possible Cinnamon Teal X Northern Shoveler, Gilbert Water Ranch, Maricopa County

"An unusual duck photographed by Terry Thomas at the Gilbert Water Ranch on 10 March 2007. The bird has the shape of a shoveler. What is especially strange is that it superficially has color patterns of Northern Shoveler, Blue-winged Teal and Cinnamon Teal. However, another possibility is that it is an escaped exotic. It is actually a fairly close match for the brightly colored New Zealand form of Australasian Shoveler. However, Australasian Shoveler has spotted sides and a brown breast. Therefore, one possibility that at least fits the color pattern and only invokes two parents is an exotic Austalasian Shoveler X Cinnamon Teal hybrid. Comments invited." -- Michael Moore

From Birds of North American Online [In North America, Northern Shoveler hybridizes in the wild with Blue-winged Teal and probably Cinnamon Teal; also with Muscovy Duck (Cairina moschata). In Eurasia known to hybridize with Garganey, Green-winged Teal, Gadwall (Anas strepera), Eurasian Wigeon (A. penelope), Northern Pintail, and Mallard; also additional species in captivity, including Wood Duck (Aix sponsa) and Ferruginous Duck (Aythya nyroca) (Palmer 1976).]

10 March 2007 photos by Terry Thomas

Reference

DuBowy, P. J. 1996. Northern Shoveler (Anas clypeata). In The Birds of North America, No. 217 (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.). The Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, and The American Ornithologists’ Union, Washington, D.C.

R. S. Palmer 1976. Handbook of North American birds. Vol. 2, pt. 1. Yale Univ. Press, New Haven, CT.