Exotic duck at Sambhar salt lake

The monsoon rains in 2019 have resulted in superb birding in and around Sambhar salt lake in Rajasthan this season. The main body of the lake has filled after many years and much water still remains when we visited on 23rd February 2020 - our sixth visit in as many months. As reported widely in the Press we know that avian botulism had claimed several tens of thousands of ducks and waders in November and December 2019. Thankfully, the bacteria either vanished or became inactive as mysteriously as it first appeared.

This note is to record a strange duck that we observed and photographed on 23.02.2020 at a secluded jheel adjacent to the main lake in Sambhar.

We saw it almost immediately, mixed in with several other species of ducks which included Northern Pintails, Red-crested Pochards, Gadwalls and Spot-billed Ducks. It was as wary as the other ducks, although busily feeding by upending, in the vegetation-filled marshy jheel.

Mystery duck with  Pintails

The unfamiliar head-pattern, with a dark green band extending to the nape and clasping the throat, was distinctive. Most other features seemed to suggest a Gadwall: dark grey bill and the elegantly shaped head, a black stern contrasting with the grey plumage. However, this individual was certainly larger in size than a regular male Gadwall.

with Red-crested Pochards and Common Coots

We didn't really need to open our Indian bird guide-books to confirm that we wouldn't find it there.
So, quickly onto searching images on the web, which seemed to draw a blank at first.

Meanwhile, we tried to get better images by circling the lake and approaching from the far side, but the ducks being alerted by the warning calls of red-wattled lapwings would swim further away. A low-flying Short-toed Snake Eagle now made an appearance, making the ducks even more jumpy.

with a Common Coot

After getting back home and checking more literature and images on the web, it became clear that this duck had to be a hybrid. But a hybrid of which two species?

I believe this is a hybrid Gadwall Mallard duck.

If you concur, or suggest otherwise, I would look forward to hearing from you at -
sahdevsingh2004@yahoo.co.in


Cheers,
Sahdev Singh