Surf Scoter female
Looking back at my photos from the weekend at Yaquina Bay in Newport, I find this one of a female Surf Scoter especially interesting. I had never been close enough to a female to see so clearly the white patch on the back of the head. That patch on a male, of course, is easily visible from half a mile away.
2 Comments:
I don't think this photo is a female; rather, it must be a male that was hatched and raised last summer, i.e., an imm. male.
You could be right, but every photo or illustration of immature male that I can find shows a bill with some orange coloration. (See http://www.seaduckjv.org/infoseries/
susc_sppfactsheet.pdf) For comparison see the female with a visible white patch on the nape at:
http://www.birds.cornell.edu/
AllAboutBirds/BirdGuide/
Surf_Scoter_dtl.html.
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