Aythya collaris x marila
Status: Rare casual fall migrant.
Record: There are two records.
The first was of one along the south Shore of Lewis and Clark Lake, Knox Co 11 Dec 2020 (Strand, eBird.org). The observer’s description reads: “Adult male. Scaup with clean pale whitish flanks and a contrasting black back, similar in size to the female GRSC it was paired with, head was dark and greenish when the light hit it, wing stripe was viewed when the bird flapped its wings and the white made it to the inner primaries. Head shape was large and rounded like a REDH [Redhead].”
The second record was of one at Power Road Pond, Lincoln Co 25 Oct 2024 (Mlodinow, eBird.org). The observer’s description reads: “Male. Bill much like that of RNDU. Head with greenish gloss, proportionately large head that was rounded (much like GRSC, but not quite as extreme). Back dark gray, intermediate between scaup and RNDU. Side pale gray with hint of vertical white stripe behind black chest.”
Comments: Ring-necked Duck hybridizes with several species of Aythya (Roy et al 2020). There are about 20 records shown in eBird (eBird.org, accessed Sep 2021) for this hybrid, but the Nebraska record is the first on the Great Plains north of Texas.
Literature Cited
Roy, C.L., C.M. Herwig, W.L. Hohman, and R.T. Eberhardt. 2020. Ring-necked Duck (Aythya collaris), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (A. F. Poole, Editor). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.rinduc.01.
Recommended Citation
Silcock, W.R., and J.G. Jorgensen. 2024. Ring-necked Duck x Greater Scaup (hybrid) (Aythya collaris x marila). In Birds of Nebraska — Online. www.BirdsofNebraska.org
Updated 26 Dec 2024