Canvasback x Redhead (hybrid)

Aythya valisineria x americana

Status: Accidental in spring

Record: The only record is of an adult male at Glenn Cunningham Lake, Douglas Co 11-19 Mar 1997 (Jorgensen 1997).

Comments: There are about 40 records scattered across North America, with a concentration in the Great Lakes region (eBird.org, accessed Mar 2024). There is one record for Kansas and three for eastern Colorado (eBird.org, accessed Mar 2024).

Haramis (1982) described seven Redhead x Canvasback hybrids (specimens or trapped birds), but only one was associating with Redheads; it was also the only one that possessed an all-dark bill with faint-blue patches near the base as in the Nebraska bird cited above (Jorgensen 1997). The other six hybrids cited by Haramis (1982) had bills like that of Redhead and were associating with Canvasbacks (Jorgensen 1997).

Literature Cited

Haramis, G.M. 1982. Records of Redhead x Canvasback hybrids. Wilson Bulletin 94: 599-602.

Jorgensen J.G. 1997. Two hybrid diving ducks at Cunningham Lake, Douglas County. NBR 65: 135-136.

Recommended Citation

Silcock, W.R., and J.G. Jorgensen. 2024. Canvasback x Redhead (hybrid) (Aythya valisineria x americana). In Birds of Nebraska — Online. www.BirdsofNebraska.org

Updated 7 Mar 2024