FIRST R!CORD OF THœ IN CALIFORNIA

MICHAEL A. PATTEN, P.O. Box 8561, Riverside,California 92515-8561

RobertPotvliege discovered a male CommonPochard ( ferina) at SilverLakes, San BernardinoCounty, California,on 11 February1989. SilverLakes, a smallhousing development with two man-madelakes and a golfcourse, is locatedadjacent to the town of Helendale,about 24 km north of Victorville.Following the report of the , the pochardwas observed and photographedby others,including myself, through 17 February1989. As roughlyone-third (22 of 69) of the TuftedDucks (A. fuligula)recorded in Californiahave returned for subsequentwinters (Patten unpubl. data) and California'sonly Smew (Mergeflusalbellus) returned for three successive winters (Roberson1986), observersmade an effort to relocatethe Com- mon Pochardin followingyears. Much searchingduring the winter of 1989/90 failed to reveal it, but there are similarlakes nearby along the MojaveRiver that couldsupport the bird. It returnedto SilverLakes during the winterof 1990/91, whenit wasdiscovered by EugeneA. Cardiffon 18 January and remaineduntil 23 February,during which time it was photo- graphedand observedby many. The bird returnedagain in the winter of 1991/92, when it was first observedand photographedby Curtis A. Marantz on 14 Januaryand was seen sporadicallythrough 8 February. During the winter of 1992/93, I locatedthe bird on 26 November,after whichit was observeduntil 29 November,but apparentlynot thereafter. The followingdescription is basedon my fieldnotes, on thoseof various observers who submitted documentation to the California Bird Records Committee(CBRC), and on photographsof the bird. The pochard was an adult male. It was slightlysmaller than a (A. americana) and substantiallysmaller than a (A. valisineria), both of whichwere compareddirectly to the birdon variousoccasions. It tendedto flockwith either Redheads or American Coots (Fulica americana) but seemed to avoid the .The headwas deep rufous,lacking the blackaround the baseof the bill shown by a male Canvasback.The irides were deep scarlet,closely matching a Canvasback's. A gentleslope evident on the foreheadwas not nearlyso dramaticas the slopeof a Canvasback'sforehead, particularly since the bill was "average"in proportions, rather than being comparativelylarge as on a Canvasback.A smallbump near the baseof the culmengave the bill a slightlyless smooth profile than a Canvasback's. The billwas black except for a distinctpale grayish blue saddle on the maxillathat lay closerto the tip than the base.The endsof the saddlecurved back toward the head as they approachedthe tomia, so the saddlewas not "cutoff •' straightat either end. The black nail was smaller than a Redhead•s. Like a male Canvasbackor Redhead,the pochardhad a jet blackbreast, tail, and upper-and under-tailcoverts. The grayon the backand flankswas uniform, slightly darkerthan the grayishwhite of a male Canvasbackbut muchpaler than the medium grayof a male Redhead.Slightly darker gray vermiculation could be seenon the back and flank feathersat closerange, again bringing to mind a Canvasback.The inner edgesof the tertialswere a darkergray than the backand flanks. Its flightwas powerful and direct, with rapidwingbeats. The flyingpochard looked basicallylike a Canvasback,showing a mostlypale wing with only a hint of a paler Western 24:235-240, 1993 235 COMMON POCHARD IN CALIFORNL•% stripeon the secondaries.The legsand feet were uniformly black and unbanded. No one could determinethe presenceor absenceof the halluces,which are often removedon captivewaterfowl (J. Morlanpers. comm.). A color photographof this bird, taken on 14 February1989, was publishedin American Birds (43:230, 1989). The record (CBRC 30- 1989), the first for Californiaand outsideof Alaska, was acceptedby the CBRC (Patten1991) and,with sevencolor photographs, is archivedat the WesternFoundation of VertebrateZoology, Camarillo, Calif. The winter 1990/91 record(CBRC 7-1991) was acceptedas the same individualby the CBRC. Recordsfrom the winters of 1991/92 (CBRC 106-1992) and 1992/93 (CBRC 287-1992) are currentlyunder review.

DISTRIBUTIONAL SUMMARY

CommonPochards breed throughout the Palearctic,ranging from Ice- land, the BritishIsles, southern Scandinavia, central Russia, and southern Siberiasouth through the IberianPeninsula, central , the Blackand Caspianseas, Turkey, and Lake Baikal(AOU 1983). They winterthrough muchof theirbreeding range and south to northernAfrica, the MiddleEast, , easternChina, Japan (AOU 1983), and, rarely, to the Azores,the Cape Verdeand Canaryislands, and the Philippines(Cramp and Simmons 1977). Smallnumbers are now apparentlyregular in winterin Hong Kong, wherethe specieswas formerlyconsidered a vagrant(Chalmers 1986). Cramp andSimmons (1977) consideredthe CommonPochard a vagrant on the KamchatkaPeninsula and CommanderIslands, but the statusthere is likely the same as it is in the AleutianIslands. This speciesappears regularlyin the westernAleutians and fairlyregularly on the Pribilofs(Kessel and Gibson 1978, J. L. Dunn pers. comm.). An adult male pochard observed at St. Lawrence Island on 1 June 1989 was found dead on the 6th (specimento Univ. AlaskaMuseum); it providesthe northernmostAlaska recordof the species(D. D. Gibsonpers. comm.). A femaleobserved at BelugaLake at Homer on 22 March 1981 is the only CommonPochard recordedon the Alaskamainland, and was alsoa month earlierthan any other Alaskarecord (Am. Birds 35:853, 1981). I suspectthat the Homer birdwintered in the New World, perhapswell southof Alaska. Vagrant Common Pochardshave reachedGambia and Tanzania(Brown et al. 1982), Thailand(Lekagul and Round 1991), and Guam (Maben and Wiles 1981). In addition,a femaleat Sand Island,Midway Atoll, Hawaii, from 22 Novemberto 10 December1979 was photographed(Grant and Pettit 1981, Pyle 1983). A pair reportedon 11 June 1977 at Stonybeach Lake, Saskatchewan(Brazier 1978), has been consideredhypothetical (Houstonet al. 1981), althoughit is stillcited in checklistsby boththe AOU (1983) and the ABA (1990). As do many reports of vagrant waterfowl in California, this record engendereddebate over the bird's natural occurrence.Todd (1979) indi- cated that the Common Pochard was "almost nonexistent in America" in waterfowlcollections. Richard Ryan (in litt. to D. Roberson;now in CBRC

236 COMMON POCHARD IN CALIFORNIA files)opined that the "oddson an escapeare rather slim" with regard to this record.Simon Tarsnane,a waterfowlaviculturist from California,indicated (in litt.) that the speciesis exceedinglyscarce in captivityin North America, and becauseof the closesimilarity between Common Pochards,Canvas- backs,and Redheads,there is little demandto keep Common Pochardsin this country.Tarsnane knew of only two collectionsrecenfiy holding any; one (SeaWorld in San Diego)no longerhas any in itscare, and the other (in North Carolina)apparently has only a "coupleof pairs."Acceptance of this recordby the CBRC reflectsthe beliefthat thereis a muchhigher probabil- ity of naturaloccurrence than of captiveorigin.

IDENTIFICATION SUMMARY

The Common Pochard is closelyrelated to the Canvasbackand the Redhead,the first two sometimesbeing treated as a superspecies(AOU 1983). All threespecies show the samegeneral color scheme and plumage pattern (rustyhead, black breast and hindquarters,and gray back and flanks).Differences in shapeand size,back and flankcolor, iris color,and, especially,bill patternmake males in non-eclipseplumage a straightforward identificationthat is well-coveredin standardfield guidesand Madge and Burn (1988). Malesin eclipseplumage are duller,but iriscolor (yellow in the Redhead,scarlet in the Common Pochardand Canvasback)easily sexes them, as femalesof all threespecies have dark eyes. Distinctive bill patterns are stillevident on eclipsemales, with the Canvasbackhaving a massiveall-

Figure1. An adultmale Common Pochard (Aythya retina), California'sfirst, at Silver Lakes,San BernardinoCounty, 12 February1991. Note the bill pattern and head shape. Photo by Ed Greaves

237 COMMON POCHARD IN CALIFORNIA blackbill, the CommonPochard having a blackbill with a grayishblue saddle,and the Redheadhaving a grayishblue bill with a black"dipped-in- ink" tip and a whitishsubterminal band. Femalesare more problematic.All three specieshave a rather tawny brown head, a darker brown breast,and grayishbrown on the back and flanks. As with males, the Redhead is the darkest, the Canvasbackis the palest.The CommonPochard is intermediatein coloration,though closer to the Canvasback.The slopingforehead and massiveall-black bill of a femaleCanvasback are typicallystriking. This speciesis alsosubstantially largerand paleron the backand flanksthan the othertwo. The Redhead showsa distinctlyrounded head, a steepforehead, and a billtypically "- like" in proportions.The female'sbill tendsto be darker gray than the male's,but the samepattern is generallyevident. In shapeas in plumage, the female Common Pochard is intermediate between the Canvasback and Redhead.The foreheadslopes into the bill, althoughnot nearlyso dramati- callyas it doeson Canvasback.Bill proportionsare more like thoseof the Redhead.The blackbill often showsan obscuregrayish saddle, which can be difficultto see. In late summerand fall, female Common Pochardsmay havean "allblackish bill" (Madge 1991), makingassessment of headshape, bodysize (the Common Pochard is slightlysmaller than the Redhead),and plumagecritical to identification. Complicatingidentification of thesethree species is the highincidence of hybridsin Aythya (Gillhamet al. 1966, Madgeand Burn 1988, Harriset al. 1989). Practicallyevery conceivable hybrid combination within the genus hasbeen recorded in the wild,and several hybrids have been identified as or closelyresemble pure individuals of a differentspecies. For examl•le, a TuftedDuck x CommonPochard resembling a maleRedhead was found in Britain (Kemp 1991), a male Common Pochardbred with a pinioned femaleCanvasback in Britainand raisedsix young that resembledpochards except in shape (Bristow 1992), and FerruginousDuck (A. nyroca) x CommonPochard hybrids often resemble Redheads in plumageand shape (Harris et al. 1989). Since the Common Pochard is intermediate between the Canvasback and Redheadin shapeand plumage,Canvasback x Redheadhybrids could causereal identificationproblems. This hybrid combinationhas been re- portedin the wildin Wisconsin,Virginia (twice), Maryland (twice), and New York (Haramis1982). More recently,there havebeen reportsfrom Quebec (Yankand Aubry 1985) and Oregon (Anon. 1989). The Oregonbird, a female,was considered a CommonPochard by someobservers, underscor- ing the need for cautionin the identificationof females.Haramis (1982) notedthe "closeresemblance particularly in headand bill structurebetween hybridand A. retina specimens"and that "the scapularplumage of A. retina specimenswas foundto be particularlyclose to that of the 'Canvas- back-type'hybrids." Yank and Aubry(1985) describeda "probablehybrid" that closelymatched the findingsof Haramis.Size is the primarydistinction, since hybridsare intermediatebetween the Canvasbackand Redhead, whereas the Common Pochard is smaller than either of those. Culmen lengthsof four hybridswere muchcloser to the mean for the Canvasback than to the mean for the Redheador Common Pochard(Haramis 1982). In 238 COMMON POCHARD IN CALIFORNIA an encounterwith a suspectedCommon Pochard, particularly a female, payclose attention to billsize and pattern, overall body size and coloration (generallydarker in hybrids),and headshape.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Simon Tarsnane graciouslysupplied information regardingthe status of the Common Pochardin captivityin the United Statesand Europe.Jon L. Dunn and JosephMorlan providedinformation about the statusof the Common Pochardin Alaska and waterfowl aviculture,respectively. Ed Greaveskindly allowed me to publishhis photograph and MatthewT. Heindelsupplied the blackand white print of it. This paper benefitedfrom reviewsby Kurt F. Campbell,Daniel D. Gibson,Guy McCaskie,and Philip Unitt.

LITERATURE CITED

AmericanBirding Association (ABA). 1990. ABA Checklist:Birds of the Continental UnitedStates and Canada,4th ed. Am. BirdingAssoc., Colorado Springs, CO. AmericanOrnithologists' Union (AOU). 1983. Check-Listof North AmericanBirds, 6th ed. Am. Ornithol. Union, Washington,D. C. Anon. 1989. CommonwealthPark mysteryduck was a Redheadx Canvasback hybrid.Ore. Birds 15:140-142. Brazier, F. 1978. A possible record of Common Pochards for southern Saskatchewan.Blue Jay 36:216-217. Bristow,P. 1992. Pochardx Canvasbackhybrids in Britain.Birding World 4:437. Brown, L. H., Urban, E. K., and Newman, K. 1982. The Birds of Africa, vol. I. AcademicPress, London. Chalmers,M. L. 1986. AnnotatedChecklist of the Birdsof Hong Kong, 4th ed. Hong KongBird WatchingSoc., Hong Kong. Cramp, S., and Simmons, K. E. L., eds. 1977. The Birds of the Western Palearctic, vol. I. Oxford Univ. Press,Oxford, . Gillham,E., Harrison,J. M., and Harrison,J. G. 1966. A studyof certainAythya hybrids.Wildfowl Trust Annu. Rep. 17:49-65. Grant, G. S., and Pettit, T. N. 1981. Birdson Midway and Kure atollsduring the winter of 1979-1980. 'Elepaio41:81-85. Haramis, G. M. 1982. Recordsof Redheadx Canvasbackhybrids. Wilson Bull. 94:599-602. Harris, A., Tucker, L., and Vinicombe, K. 1989. The MacMillan Guide to Bird Identification.MacMillan Press, London. Houston, C. S., Houston, M. I., and Gollop, J. B. 1981. Saskatchewanbird species--hypotheticaland rejected.Blue Jay 39:196-201. Kemp, J. 1991. HybridPochards resembling Redheads. Birding World 4:353. Kessel,B., and Gibson,D. D. 1978. Statusand distributionof Alaskabirds. Studies Avian Biol. 1. Lekagul,B., and Round,P. D. 1991. A Guideto the Birdsof Thailand.Saha Karn Bhaet Co., Bangkok. Maben, A. F., and Wiles, G. J. 1981. Nine new bird records for Guam and Rota. Micronesica 17:192-195.

239 COMMON POCHARD IN CALIFORNIA

Madge, S. 1991. Separationof Canvasbackand Redheadfrom Pochard.Birding World 4:365-368. Madge, S., and Burn, H. 1988. Waterfowl:An IdentificationGuide. Houghton Mifflin, Boston. Patten, M. A. 1991. An update from the CaliforniaBird RecordsCommittee. W. Birds 22:95. Pyle, R. L. 1983. Checklistof the birdsof Hawaii. 'Elepaio44:47-58. Roberson,D. 1986. Ninth report of the CaliforniaBird RecordsCommittee. W. Birds 17:49-77. Todd, F. S. 1979. Waterfowl: , Geese, and Swansof the World. Sea World, San Diego. Yank, R., and Aubry, Y. 1985. The autumnmigration: Quebec region. Am. Birds 39:29-31.

Accepted 22 May 1993

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