Possible hybrid shelduck on Mana Island

[Colin Miskelly]

I have just returned from an afternoon on Mana Island (more on that in a later post). As we landed there was a shelduck family with four 3/4-grown ducklings by the slipway. The adult male had unusual plumage with a mix of paradise shelduck and chestnut-breasted shelduck features. Those of the latter included pale feathering around the eye and at the base of the bill, black undertail coverts, and a paler than usual chest. Paradise shelduck features included the mainly grey chest, the lack of a white neck-ring, and the pale feathers on the head were not as white as they should be for a c-b shelduck. Note also that it is the female c-b shelduck that has a white eye-ring, and only a few male c-b shelducks have white at the base of the bill.

Does anyone know what a hybrid of these two species looks like? I have heard of them hybridising in waterfowl collections.

Mana Island staff had noticed the unusual plumage, and thought that it was a grizzled old bird.

The attached photo is enlarged and cropped from an image taken with a 50 mm lens (all I had with me), but the family is quite approachable.

Colin Miskelly

[Jake]

Just found this image in the ebird quizzes. Surely a young female, but additionally seems perfectly intermediate between the species. It doesn't look like the normal moult into adult plumage, which typically starts with a whitening of head and then replacement of body feathers from charcoal to reddish. Again, this seems intermediate. The black around vent is more typical of Australian Species too imo. Love to hear thoughts

[Jake]

Don't worry, the provenance is good for Paradise: it's a Zealandia bird that has been photographed continuously, as has its parents. I've never seen a phase quite like it is all