"Answer"
I've already suggested that this bird
is a duck and indeed it is. The head and bill are certainly good
for a duck, but what kind of duck? Things get easier if you happen
to notice that the duck has a very long tail. Immediately, we
might consider a NORTHERN PINTAIL However, only a male NOPI shows
a tail of any length and an adult male NOPI is entirely white
on the underparts. That disagrees with this bird, showing a distinct
transition between the dark feather on the upper breast and bell
and the white on the flanks, lower belly and undertail coverts.
Also, there's no hint of the white leading from the neck up to
the eye as one would expect from an inflight male NOPI.
Of course, there is another duck with a long tail, that being an OLDSQUAW, or the more politically correct LONG-TAILED DUCK, which of course what this bird is. However, the plumage is somewhat interesting. An adult male in winter plumage would show almost an entirely white head with only a brown region behind the eye on an otherwise all white head and neck. This bird certainly shows much more brown on the neck that would be expected in definitive winter plumage. Conversely, an adult male in summer plumage would show almost an entirely brown head and neck area with only a white eye region and a small white spot on top of the head. This bird sows a distinct white band at the base of the neck or upper breast, in variance with the picture. OLDS does show quite a bit of variation in plumage, but this bird is probably an adult male somewhere inbetween winter and summer plumages.
This male OLDSQUAW was photographed near the Puget Sound in WA during a recent winter.
Last updated 11 January, 2000