Tufted Duck x Greater Scaup hybrid

Tufted Duck Aythya fuligula x Greater Scaup Aythya marila hybrid

It was interesting to see how the darkness of the upperparts varied according to the angle of this bird and different light conditions. When I first picked it up it looked as pale as a Scaup but quickly morphed into a darker-looking beast. It was noticeably larger than the Tufted Ducks it was accompanying which points to the scaup parent Greater Scaup rather than Lesser Scaup. The vermiculations on the upperparts are not clearly visible in the photos but were easily seen in the field, albeit much less obvious than on either scaup species, especially Lesser Scaup.

Tufted Duck x Greater Scaup hybrid, Lound Lakes (Norfolk/Suffolk border, UK), 7th March 2017

Female Tufted Ducks with a lot of white around the bill and little or no tuft showing are often touted as possible Tufted Duck x Greater Scaup hybrids (or perhaps even more often misidentified as pure Greater Scaup) but in most cases they are just Tufted Ducks. The bird below differed from these in that I got a good clear look at the head over a period of time and its feathers were ruffled and raised sufficiently for me to establish that it certainly did not have an elongated tuft, rather than this simply not being visible. Moreover the structure seemed quite Greater Scaup-like, although it was as small as a Tufted Duck. At some angles the upperparts and flanks seemed to lack any grey feathering (although they were paler than on the accompanying Tufted Ducks) but at some angles there seemed to be a distinct greyish tone to upperparts and flanks. Some photos seem to hint at an extensive dark tip to the bill as on Tufted Duck but in the field this seemed to be lacking - it certainly was not as obvious as it often is on Tufted Duck. Unfortunately poor light, my longest lens being away for repairs and my general lack of technical skill meant that the photos I took were all quite poor.

Female Common Pochard x Tufted Duck hybrids often show more white round the base of the bill than might be expected and so can suggest Tufted Duck x Greater Scaup hybrid. I don't think that was the case here, but I am not 100% certain that my proposed ID of Tufted Duck x Greater Scaup hybrid is correct.

probable Tufted Duck x Greater Scaup hybrid (with Common Pochards and Tufted Ducks), Salhouse Broad (Norfolk, UK), 1st January 2013

For comparison, here are photos of the parent species.

Tufted Duck, Welney (Norfolk, UK), 24th February 2017 and Greater Scaup, Caerlaverock (Dumfries & Galloway, UK), 18th December 2015

For more photos of these species follow the links below: