Wild and Rare

["Kristin Purdy" <kristinpurdy at comcast dot net>]

Would you feel privileged if you saw a bird that has only been 
documented in the wild four times?  I would, and I do.    

On November 29, 2004, I saw a hybrid duck at Farmington Bay WMA in Davis 
County.  I documented the sighting in a Birdtalk post:

http://utahbirds.org/listarchives/birdtalk/msg01513.html

I put my deduction up front--that I thought the duck was a goldeneye x 
Bufflehead hybrid.  I went on to support the deduction (or the 
deducktion, if you wish) by describing the bird.  I stuck to the facts, 
Ma'am, just the facts.  Whether or not my deduction was correct is a 
matter of opinion, I suppose.  

Then the post found its way to holders of educated opinions about hybrid 
ducks.  The post caught the eye of Roger Norman of the UK, and Roger 
sent a copy to his friend, Eric Gillham.  Eric researches and has 
published seven books and pamphlets on hybrid ducks with his son, Barry. 
 The Gillhams have logged over 20 years of experience on hybrid ducks.  
Not only have they investigated over 1300 records, including written 
reports and live and museum specimens, but they also attempt to validate 
field reports through a captive breeding program.  

The Gillhams subsequently contacted me for more details.  During our 
message exchange, we agreed on the proposed Bufflehead parent.  I 
suggested the other parent was most likely a Common Goldeneye due to the 
more extensive white on the hybrid duck's scapulars than Barrow's show.  
The Gillhams still seek to confirm, irrefutably, the suggested Common 
Goldeneye parentage.  However, they did confirm that photos of one of 
the other records of a goldeneye x Bufflehead demonstrated several 
characteristics I described in the Farmington bird--head plumage more 
peaked than in either of the supposed parent species, thick neck and 
flattened crown plumage while diving.    

The Gillhams also corrected some erroneous assumptions I relayed in 
attempting to deduce the hybrid's parentage--that hybrids are more 
subject to leucism and albinism than normal ducks (incorrect), and that 
Hooded Merganser hybrids don't have any white head plumage (also 
incorrect).   

I was quite apprehensive that my sighting might become a matter of 
scientific record.  After all, I hadn't provided any evidence of the 
bird's existence so an expert could confirm or refute what I saw.  Heck, 
I couldn't even provide a photograph.  But the Gillhams found the 
written record and additional details to be credible and arrived at the 
appropriate language to indicate credibility, as opposed to 
irrefutability.  I'm pleased with their result.  

Roger Norman recently notified me that the Gillhams have included the 
sighting in their latest bulletin.  You can find two of the Gillhams' 
previous publications ('Hybrid Ducks: a contribution towards an 
inventory' and  'Hybrid Ducks: a 5th contribution towards an inventory', 
 ISBN 0  9511556  6  0) on http://www.amazon.co.uk/.  

I've concluded I should act on this feeling of privilege over seeing 
such a rare bird by starting a life list, and backdate the list to 
November 29, 2004.  Here it is:  1. goldeneye x Bufflehead.  That's all 
I've got so far.  He'd be number one, HEY!   In the game of birding 
oneupsmanship, few birders will be able to match my first bird.  Ha!  

Finally, I cannot end this message without delivering an appeal that 
you've read before.  Please report your sightings.  Utah Birds provides 
us with an avenue to let others know what's out there--whether the focus 
of the reports is science or fun.  You can tell that I was not of a 
scientific mindset when I chose my concluding words for the duck 
sighting ("It was fun to see a new duck!"), but no matter.  Despite my 
rather simplistic focus on fun, the Farmington Bay hybrid duck sighting 
has become a matter of scientific record.  The Birdtalk listserv, Roger 
Norman's sharp eye and the Gillhams' publication have made this 
possible.  

Kris

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