Mallard x American Black Duck

[Ryan Schain]

I have a few images of this guy not cleaning himself, but I thought this was a cool angle, at least the eye is still there. Shot lying on my stomach on the shore of a lake. The color of the water is from an overhanging willow tree, that's just starting to bloom. This is a clear cut Mallard and American Black Duck hybrid. Mixes of these two species like this can be pretty striking.

Canon EOS 7D
Canon EF 100-400mm F4.5-5.6 L IS

1/640
f/5.6
310 mm
ISO 400
+1/3 EV

[Aidan Briggs]

Lovely preening pose, and the iridescent plumage is great. I might lighten the forehead a bit.

[Phil Ertel]

Hi Ryan, I too like the preening pose and the colors of the bird. For my taste, there is a little too much out of focus (OOF) foreground. I considered a couple of alternative crops and the one I liked best removed about half of the OOF foreground and some off the left side (our left) so that the head/eye is located in the upper-left rule of thirds. Just my opinion and personal taste. Thanks for sharing as I have enjoyed your image.

[Arthur Morris]

I am not sure of the clear-cut ID.... Good EXP and sharp but the head is turned away too much. And the green crown is too saturated...

[Ryan Schain]

I am not sure of the clear-cut ID.... Good EXP and sharp but the head is turned away too much. And the green crown is too saturated...

Artie,

Thanks for the feedback! I agree the crown looks hot, but is there a way the crown could have been oversaturated in-camera? I did not selectively saturate the crown, or increase the saturation on the bird much at all.

What about this bird makes you unsure of an ABDU x Mallard Hybrid? If anything, it's a Mallard back-cross because it appears to have more mallard features.

Here is another photo of it:

[Arthur Morris]

Hi Ryan,

re:

Thanks for the feedback! I agree the crown looks hot, but is there a way the crown could have been oversaturated in-camera?

Yes. That happens a lot.

I did not selectively saturate the crown, or increase the saturation on the bird much at all.

Happens every day. Try this: go to Selective Color and add magenta to the greens or, apply a magenta Photo Filter at about 10 or 15%. After either of those you would not likely need to reduce the green SAT.

What about this bird makes you unsure of an ABDU x Mallard Hybrid? If anything, it's a Mallard back-cross because it appears to have more mallard features.

I am not very familiar with ABDU X MALL hybrids but when I have seen them they all had a distinctive look that made me think ABDU X MALL hybrid immediately. This bird does not have that look. I will copy the original post to Avian ID.