Eurasian Common Teal at Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge Queens NY...

I decided on a stop at the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge on Friday after reading a report posted by birder ,Doug Gochfeld, about an apparent pure male 'Eurasian' Green-winged (Common) Teal, and 2 male Eurasian/American Green-winged Teal hybrids. My first stop was at "Big Egg Marsh" a location not far from the refuge; there, I documented the highest count of Snow Geese for me this year, in 73 with about 7 juveniles in the flock.

After about an hour at Big Egg Marsh, I headed over to Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge and headed straight for the West Pond. On the pond, there were the usual assortment of water fowl, with some high numbers for Scaup over 2500 and Red-breasted Mergansers tallied at 475. The target was the Eurasian Teal and the Eurasian/American Green-winged Teal hybrids. It took some searching, but I finally found the pure Eurasian Teal and was able to get some comparison photos as it foraged with other Green Winged Teal. Unfortunately, I did not see either of the two Eurasian/American Green-winged Teal hybrids, which could have been elsewhere and not with the flock I was working...or I could have overlooked them. It may take another trip to the refuge to find those as I would like to see and photograph them as well.

Eurasian (Common) Teal with Green-winged Teal.

Also on the West Pond was the Barrow's (drake) Goldeneye, making this the 5th time I have seen the duck on the West Pond and 7th in total since it was first reported.
Below I have some photos that show the Eurasian Teal well marked. Enjoy!

Notice the horizontal white scapular stripe.

The Eurasian (Common) Teal has no vertical white shoulder bar.

Eurasian (Common) Teal at Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge.

Tags: Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge, birding, Green-winged Teal Field, Eurasian Common Teal

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