Among the many birds this morning on yet another sunny and warm day in early April I found an intergrade Eurasian x American Green winged Teal at a small pond in Belchertown. This is a very unusual hybrid to find around here and I have only had one previous record of one (in late March of 2018 in Hadley). This hybrid occurs when an American Green winged Teal and an Eurasian Green winged Teal breed. The main distinguishing feature between American Green winged Teal and Eurasian Green winged Teal is that the American subspecies has a vertical white stripe on the chest and the Eurasian subspecies has a horizontal white stripe on the lower scapulars with hybrids typically showing both features (like the individual I had this morning). Many authorities consider these two subspecies of Green winged Teal to be distinct species (with the Eurasian subspecies being known as Common Teal) but the American Ornithological Union still considers them a single species. I have seen pure Eurasian Green winged Teal (Common Teal) on two occasions in the local area with one in Hadley in 2011 and another at Fannie Stebbins in 2012. Oddly enough I also found a pure Eurasian Green winged Teal (Common Teal) in The Bahamas in 2017 which is the only eBird record from the country and one of the most southerly records in the new world for this species/subspecies in eBird. David Sibley has a nice article regarding the subspecies and hybrids at the following link.
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