[BenKeen]

Hi all,

I came across this guy at Kits Point today around lunch. Any idea what he/she is? Some sort of Common Goldeneye cross?


Thanks!

- Ben

[Birder2000]

I'd say it's a male Common Goldenye x Bufflehead hybrid. Cool bird!

[BenKeen]

Thanks Liron! Yeah, very neat to see.

- Ben

[Hoss]

Too cool, hybrid birds never cease to amaze me in the individual diversity and number of crosses that can potentially occur. I wonder if the bird is sterile or if pairing with a parent species will produce offspring? What is its life expectancy? Will it be poorer suited to survival than the parent species? How large was it?
I've seen a few nifty hybrids, mallard pintail, mallard wigeon, also eurasian and american wigeon is very common. In some areas gadwall mallard hybrids were common enough that at one time they were thought to be a different species.
It makes me wonder how many species produce hybrids that cannot be easily identified. Imagine a cooper's hawk x sharp shinned hawk of intermediate size, female teal hybrids, a semipalmated x least or western sandpiper (especially in winter plumage), or any Empid. flycatcher combination would be impossible to ID.

[BenKeen]

Yeah, hybrids are always interesting! I saw a snow goose-canada goose cross near Reifels last year which was most surprising - and a pintail-mallard which looked like he'd been created in Photoshop - but I've never heard of a bufflehead-goldeneye cross before. It really caught me off-guard and had me flipping through my bird book in puzzlement.

Today I saw around 50 Barrow's Goldeneye; this guy was hanging out with a lone female, separate from the other birds. He was actively diving while the female preened herself. The female was either a Barrow's or Common - I honestly don't know - but they did seem to be a pair. Size-wise I didn't notice any great difference from the Barrow's.

Anyway, clearly I'll have to head back tomorrow and see if they're still hanging around...

- Ben

[MountainGoat]

I started seeing this guy at Kits in late October and he's been there off and on ever since. I even saw a few accounts from previous years that might be describing this guy. Very cool bird.

I too am always fascinated by hybrids! Unfortunately, my camera doesn't have the reach to catch this guy as you have. Well done!

I'm wondering though: how does one determine that this is a Common Goldeneye x Bufflehead and not a Barrow's Goldeneye x Bufflehead? I understand the colouring doesn't necessarily stay in exactly the same places, but the white behind the beak looks plenty high to line up with Barrow's colouring, rather than the lower Common Goldeneye white streak. Also, I generally see this guy with the Barrow's instead of the Commons when he's at Kits.
Any thoughts?

[Bluebird]

Here is an image of one i took in 2009 in Victoria.Your birds shape looks more Goldeneye size while mine looks more Bufflehead size.TedPs i call them Buffgo's

[rawalker]

Any chance there could be some long-tailed duck in there? I'm just basing this on what appears to be a long tail, which having not seen this bird in person may just be an illusion.

[esle9]

Any chance there could be some long-tailed duck in there? I'm just basing this on what appears to be a long tail, which having not seen this bird in person may just be an illusion.

I've seen the hybrid at Kits too, this winter and last winter. His tail is actually normal sized, but it does look long in the picture.

[esle9]

A few random notes about bird hybrids:

Male hybrids are often fertile, while the females are sometimes/often sterile and cannot lay eggs. It depends on how close the parent species are. It is the opposite in mammals; the males are usually sterile while females can be fertile. Male bird hybrids are also more common than females (in chicken-pheasant hybrids, males are 12 times more common). This is because in mammals, males are the ones with the XY chromosomes, but it is the opposite in birds. Since their X and Y chromosomes don't match, if there is a problem with one of them, they have no genetic backup to help them.
Also, infertile females can take on the plumage of males because they lack the hormones which regulate their plumage. I'm not sure if that happens with all bird though.
Hybrids are cool!