Comments:
This month our bird is pretty obviously a duck. More specifically, we
have a dabbling duck and not a diving duck. Even including rarities
that only leaves us 12 options on the Utah checklist. Many of those 12
have a black hind end with some white like this bird. On several of
those species, including both Gadwall and Mallard, the entire vent
area is black and the tail is white. Our bird also shows a black
ventral region, but unlike Mallard or gadwall this bird has whitish or
buffy undertail coverts. One other useful clue is the leg color. From
the little bit we can see the legs appear grayish, not definitely not
bright orange like a mallard. The only duck with buffy undertail
coverts is the Green-winged Teal, which is the correct answer
this month.
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