Innholdsfortegnelse for Wildfowl i Bird ID Photo Guides

Basic Principles The ‘white-fronted geese’ comprise two species: Greater White-fronted Goose and Lesser White-fronted Goose. The subspecies taxonomy of the former has long been controversial, but only two taxa are of real relevance in Britain: Russian and Greenland White-fronted Geese. These need to be separated from each other and also, on very rare occasions, from Lesser White-fronted Goose. Russian White-fronted Goose Although sometimes termed ‘European’ or ‘Eurasian’ White-fronted Goose, the breeding range of this form extends across northern Russia. Eastern populations winter in East Asia, mainly in China, Japan and Korea, with those from central Siberia wintering in Europe, largely in The Netherlands, south-east Europe and around the Black and Caspian Seas. In Britain this goose winters in southern England, particularly in East Anglia, but occasional influxes from the large…

Basic Principles No birds are more emblematic of grey winter days than three of our grey geese – Pink-footed, Taiga Bean and Tundra Bean Geese. Once all regarded as forms of the same species, Pink-footed Goose has long been ‘split’; Birdwatch follows the IOC in splitting the two bean geese, though some authorities still lump them. The three taxa are quite distinct, however, not just in their size, structure and plumage but also in their distribution. Like all geese, they are highly traditional in their breeding and wintering grounds and migration routes, and have predictable vagrancy patterns, so the key to finding them is informed expectation. Ageing grey geese is not always easy, but on adults the whitish tips to the upperparts feathers are quite straight, typically aligned in neat…

Basic Principles The ‘sawbill’ ducks are a strange group, their slim, saw-toothed bills supremely adapted to catching fish underwater. There are only six extant species in the world, four of which are on the British list. They fall logically into two species pairs: one large and the other small. The remaining two (Brazilian and Scaly-sided Mergansers) are beyond the scope of this article. Red-breasted Merganser This is our most familiar sawbill. It breeds in Scotland, northern England and Wales, and is a reasonably common winterer throughout the rest of Britain, where it is almost exclusively marine, occurring in sheltered shallow inshore waters, typically in estuaries. There is also some migration in winter from continental populations. Its world range extends throughout the Holarctic, occupying both the Old and New Worlds, but…

Basic Principles Ferruginous Duck is an increasingly rare visitor to Britain and Ireland from the Continent, and a great find on any local patch. Although relatively distinctive in appearance, it can be overlooked among rafts of Tufted Duck and Common Pochard, and the possibility of hybrids and escapes also needs to be considered. The species’ large but somewhat fragmented breeding range extends from central, eastern and south-eastern Europe through Turkey and parts of the Middle East to Central Asia and China. In the Mediterranean there are isolated breeding pockets westwards to Spain, where it is very rare, and also from Libya to Morocco; it occasionally breeds in France (Mitchell 2017, Reeber 2015). Its winter range is more extensive, but it is still absent from much of north-west Europe. In Britain,…

Basic Principles Diving ducks are fun to watch but can be difficult to identify as they spend a lot of time submerged. One of the most striking is Common Goldeneye, a rare breeding bird in Britain, but a widespread and familiar winter visitor. A favourite among the diving ducks, it is usually found on inland waterbodies, as well as sheltered coastal areas. It can be easily distinguished from most other species, but two vagrants from North America provide interesting identification challenges. Barrow’s Goldeneye is closely related and looks similar, and Bufflehead, while in the same genus, Bucephala, is a little more distinctive. The identity of these two species will rarely be in question, but there are individuals (particularly females and immatures) which defy positive identification, as well as interesting problems…

Basic Principles Important numbers of both Dark-bellied and Pale-bellied Brent Geese winter, Black Brant turns up annually in small numbers and the enigmatic ‘Grey-bellied Brant’ has been recorded in Ireland. Despite their current official treatment as subspecies, the differences between the different forms of Brent Goose are greater than between many full species and amount to much more than whether they have a dark or a pale belly. Unfortunately, their treatment in field guides, both in text and illustrations, is often cursory. Dark-bellied Brent Goose There is a single population of Dark-bellied Brent Goose, breeding on the northernmost tundra of central Siberia, migrating through the Baltic and wintering mainly around the southern North Sea and in north-west France. In Britain, it winters largely between the estuaries of the Humber and…

Basic Principles The Mute Swan is a familiar year-round resident in Britain, but in winter it is joined by our two ‘wild swan’ species, Whooper and Bewick’s Swans. Few sights and sounds are more evocative of a cold, grey winter day than those of these magnificent Arctic visitors, but as well as providing a memorable aesthetic experience they can also pose real identification difficulties. Mute Swan Although Mute Swan has a long history in Britain with well-established royal connections, it is not a native species. It occurs widely in continental Europe (where it is also introduced), but as a truly wild species is native to East Asia. This must be one of our most instantly recognisable birds. It is a relatively common and usually tame resident, generally encountered as a…

Basic Principles Every winter brings with it a new opportunity to scrutinise Aythya ducks. Most encounters will be with Tufted Ducks, but it is always worth searching carefully for its two close relatives, Greater and Lesser Scaups. Identification is not always straightforward, however. This group of ducks has a variety of plumages and, to make matters worse, is notorious for producing hybrids, some of which can appear very similar either to one of its parents or, sometimes, to another species altogether. Tufted Duck Tufted Duck is by far the commonest Aythya and therefore the most familiar. Though a scarce breeding bird in Britain, it is much more regular in winter when numbers are boosted by continental migrants. At this time of year, any lake, reservoir or gravel pit should host…

Basic Principles Female ‘dabbling ducks’ are notoriously baffling, particularly to newer birders. While the males are colourful and distinctive, the females present, by contrast, are variations on a drab brown theme and prove much more challenging to identify. A short cut to their identification is often provided by a quick look at any accompanying males, but the females repay careful study. They are, in reality, fairly distinctive, and subtly beautiful too! This article looks at the six regularly occurring dabbling duck species in Britain. Northern Pintail In most areas this is the scarcest of the species discussed here and the least likely to be seen in very large single-species flocks. In Britain it is almost exclusively encountered in winter. When typically seen among other dabbling ducks, female Northern Pintail is…

Basic Principles In 2004, the American Ornithologists’ Union (AOU) split Canada Goose Branta canadensis into two species, based mainly on mtDNA evidence, their divergence having occurred approximately one million years ago (Mlodinow et al 2008). The large-bodied interior and southern North American breeding forms continued to be known as Canada Goose, while the small-bodied tundra breeding forms became Cackling Goose B hutchinsii. A year later, the British Ornithologists’ Union (BOU) followed suit, but decided to rename the two species ‘Greater Canada Goose’ and ‘Lesser Canada Goose’. The problem with this is that the subspecies parvipes, traditionally known as Lesser Canada Goose, is treated under the new taxonomy as a form of Greater Canada Goose. As Canada Geese are native to North America, it was surely incumbent on the BOU to…

Basic Principles Common Eider is a widespread and numerous seaduck, most notably found along northern English, Scottish and Irish coasts year round. Parties of non-breeding birds, including young males in motley piebald plumages, may linger well south of nesting areas during the summer, and it is such birds and the brown females which are closer in appearance to the respective plumages of the Arctic-breeding King Eider, a rare but annual visitor to Britain. Identification is further complicated by the outside chance of vagrant subspecies of Common Eider, notably so-called Northern Eider Somateria mollissima borealis, and even Dresser’s Eider S m dresseri, recorded recently for the first time in Ireland. On current knowledge these forms are only identifiable as adult males, so it is this plumage on which we focus here.…

Basic Principles As its name suggests, Common Pochard Aythya ferina is a familiar duck in Britain. Migrants start to arrive in late summer and, during the period 2004-09, around 38,000 were present in winter. It is, however, declining as a non-breeding migrant, with counts in 2013-14 dropping to 16,300, the lowest-ever total. The British wintering population has halved in under 20 years (Holt et al 2015). However, ‘short-stopping’ on the Continent in recent milder winters – a consequence of climate change – may also be a factor, as may ecological problems such as eutrophication. As a breeding species in Britain it is localised, with just 360 confirmed pairs in 2013 (Holling et al 2015). In spring, Common Pochards have a very interesting courtship behaviour. Unlike most ducks, they do not…

Basic Principles “Look at the shape on that. It’s nothing like the same!” I was talking to Anthony McGeehan and David Quinn and responding to views of a female White-winged Scoter off Vancouver Island, Canada. It was (perhaps to some) a boring brown duck surrounded by Pacific Rim wonders such as Ancient Murrelet, Harlequin Duck, Rhinoceros Auklet and Pacific Diver. It was late November 1997 and I had spent some time carefully watching a female-type Velvet Scoter in Belfast Lough just the week before. Noting all its characteristics and behaviours, I was watching it as if I were seeing the species for the first time. I like the way small children learn their colours: one at a time. The first colour might be blue. They will point to everything that…