2 for ID please

alanjns · #1 (**permalink**) 01-07-09, 05:04 AM

Haven't been able to upload attachments, so have placed pics in an album.

Both were seen at Hodbarrow yesterday, thanks in advance.

Twitcheruth · #2 (**permalink**) 01-07-09, 08:02 AM

The image with the 2 birds in could be juvenille Starlings Alan?? or maybe Pipits??
I'm not sure about the duck tho it might be a Gadwall......I'm sure John will be along to confirm or not later.
Sounds like a good day out.....Hodbarrow is a reserve I've not visited.......yet!

clydebirder · #3 (**permalink**) 01-07-09, 10:08 AM

Hi Alan

The two on the rocks are juvenile Starlings and the duck is an eclipse drake Mallard

cheers, John

BELOW: Eclipse drake Mallard, some keep some green on head but a lot of them don't. They are similar to females but keep the adult greenish/yellow beak colouring, the blackish upper and under-tail coverts.

bassist · #4 (**permalink**) 01-07-09, 05:14 PM

Never in a million years thought it was a mallard....!Starlings i got correct though.....!

amanda · #5 (**permalink**) 01-07-09, 09:21 PM

I might not have followed whats been said, but what do you mean when you said the duck was a"Eclipse drake Mallard"

alanjns · #6 (**permalink**) 01-07-09, 10:06 PM

Hi Amanda,

I was stumped too when I first heard the term 'eclipse'. I got this of the RSPB website, hope it helps:

After breeding, ducks moult (replace the old, worn-out feathers with new ones). Ducks are peculiar in that they moult all their flight feathers at once. For about a month, they are flightless and very vulnerable to predators.

To provide some protection, particularly for the brightly-coloured males, the moult starts with their bright body feathers. These are replaced by dowdy brown ones, making them look much like females. This eclipse plumage is why in mid-summer, it seems that all the drakes have gone.

Once the flight feathers have regrown, the birds moult again, and by October the full colours have been regained and the various species of ducks are easily recognisable.

Cheers,

Alan

Twitcheruth · #7 (**permalink**) 02-07-09, 09:10 AM

Good info there Alan.....John's pic is an ideal example of a male in eclipse.......you can just see where the dark green feathers had been........good for the ducks but very confusing for birders!! lol!

clydebirder · #8 (**permalink**) 04-07-09, 10:10 AM

Eclipse birds can be very confusing (thanks Alan for doing what I should have done, explaining what eclipse plumage is), the birds below could easily be mistaken as "a pair" but are both drakes in different stages of moult.

Another pitfall at this time of year are some moulting female Mallards, they often have pale feathers which look white at any distance. This could cause cofusing them with Gadwall so always check the bill pattern and colour (see image below)

Below is a Gadwall, note bill pattern and colour

Another example of an eclipse drake duck is this Shoveler below

hope these are of interest

cheers, John

amanda · #9 (**permalink**) 04-07-09, 02:38 PM

I was so impresed with what the Mallard dose when it gets his new feathers,even my husband didn't know!(tends to know every thing) That i had to go out and take some photos of a Eclipse drake Mallard for my self.Tryed out the sport mode on my camra took over 200,the best one's are in my Album "Out and about"