Wednesday, 4 February 2026

Re: [cobirds] Re: Candidate Vega Gull, Pueblo

I'm no gull expert. This looks like a regular Herring gull to me (Smithsonianus). If you look in the Nat. Geographic field guide (6th edition) page 225 you will see the wingtip pattern in your photographs shown for Herring gull breeding adult next to the vegae illustration. They look similar. The three differences between the two seem to be (acccording to NG): vegae has a slightly darker mantle, a dark eye, and streaked head in winter. From your photos we can't tell if the mantle is 'slightly darker', the head is streaked, on zooming in on your photos the eye looks like it might be pale. A tough call

On Wed, Feb 4, 2026 at 7:38 AM Patricia Cullen <hathcockcolorado@gmail.com> wrote:
So has anyone chased this interesting gull?  Eye appears too dark for HEGU.
Is it a hybrid  GWGU/HEGU or a VEGU? Would that be a state record VEGU?
I don't see any new eBird reports for south side of Lake Pueblo studying this gull so far. 
Have Colorado gull experts weighed in on this one? 

Thanks,

Pat Cullen
Longmont, CO 

On Saturday, January 31, 2026 at 6:37:39 PM UTC-7 Archer Silverman wrote:
Earlier this evening Sean Huntley and I had a candidate Vega Gull on the tires at the South Pueblo Marina. The bird displayed field marks like the broader white trailing edge to the wing, darkish eye, and wing pattern, but we still have to review the photos a bit more in depth. We'll send to experts and see what they say. It would be great if someone could refind this bird and get a full spread wing shot.

Archer Silverman
Denver

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[cobirds] Re: Candidate Vega Gull, Pueblo

So has anyone chased this interesting gull?  Eye appears too dark for HEGU.
Is it a hybrid  GWGU/HEGU or a VEGU? Would that be a state record VEGU?
I don't see any new eBird reports for south side of Lake Pueblo studying this gull so far. 
Have Colorado gull experts weighed in on this one? 

Thanks,

Pat Cullen
Longmont, CO 

On Saturday, January 31, 2026 at 6:37:39 PM UTC-7 Archer Silverman wrote:
Earlier this evening Sean Huntley and I had a candidate Vega Gull on the tires at the South Pueblo Marina. The bird displayed field marks like the broader white trailing edge to the wing, darkish eye, and wing pattern, but we still have to review the photos a bit more in depth. We'll send to experts and see what they say. It would be great if someone could refind this bird and get a full spread wing shot.

Archer Silverman
Denver

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Tuesday, 3 February 2026

[cobirds] Say's Phoebe, Broomfield

Birders--
Perry Conway wants to report that he has been seeing a Say's Phoebe along a Broomfield Open Space trail directly below Overlook Drive in north Broomfield since January 31.

He sent me a beautiful picture of the bird, but I have been unable to resize it into a format compatible with CObirds standards.

Paula Hansley


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Monday, 2 February 2026

Re: [cobirds] What's Up with That-Goose Edition

Doug et al.:

Snow Geese have pink legs, not orange, and Branta geese have blackish legs. It would have been best to have another goose in the photo for size and shape reference. However, I'd say the non-Branta goose parent of your bird is likely to be a Greater White-fronted, given the very angular head typical of Greater White-fronted and the Richardson's subspecies of Cackling Goose (the abundant one in Colorado), and unlike the very round heads of Snow and Ross's geese.



Enjoy,

Tony Leukering
Denver
On Sunday, February 1, 2026 at 4:42:32 PM UTC-7 Patrick O'Driscoll wrote:
I'm no goose expert, but I see a lot of them in Denver City Park through the winter.
What interests me most about this one are the notable striations up and down its neck plumage.
That characteristic reminds me most of Greater White-fronted Goose and also of some domestic geese with Graylag and/or Swan Goose parentage.
I'd wager one or the other of these might be in this bird's genetic makeup.

Patrick O'Driscoll
Denver



On Sun, Feb 1, 2026 at 3:20 PM Doug Ward <doug...@frontier.com> wrote:

Several of us conducted a DFO field trip yesterday (Sat., 31 Jan'26) along the South Platte River near the Overland Golf Course (Denver Co.) to study waterfowl at close range.  While we had good looks at many of the beautiful regulars on this stretch, including the now famous drake BARROW'S GOLDENEYE, had a very weird hybrid goose that had us stumped, so asking COBirders to chuck in their thoughts (photos below and attached):

 

 

 

Initial thoughts were Greater White-fronted X Cackling Goose based on its general coloration, including its superficial "white-front", but also its bright yellow-orange legs as can be seen in the second photo.  After further examination of Bonnie's (Prado) great photos, now thinking this guy has too much white on its face, so now thinking it may be a Snow X Cackling back cross with a full Cackling.  Again, interested in what the group thinks – maybe we start a New York Times daily puzzle…GooseConnections!

 

Bonnie was our "hybrid whisperer" yesterday as she also found this likely Snow X Cackling hybrid in the horde as well:

 

So again, interested in your opinions so let the group know, these guys are fun.  If interested in our morning, here is a link to the trip report: https://ebird.org/tripreport/470832

 

Good Goosing,

Doug

Currently Denver

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[cobirds] The Gateway Park duck

Hi all:

Nick Moore found a Mexican-like Duck at Gateway Park in northeastern Denver County on the 31st. Kathy Mihm Dunning and I went to check it out later that day. Although there were very few ducks present, it took us a while to find it, and it looked quite good for a good male Mexican Duck. It was not very close. Later, when it was a bit closer, I took about a dozen photos of it.

Upon getting back home, I uploaded the photos to my computer, only then noticing that the bird's entire rump (not the tail feathers (!!) -- eBird Checklist - 31 Jan 2026 - Gateway Park - 10 species (+2 other taxa)) was black. That single feature is a death knell for a pure male Mexican Duck. It would also be the same for a pure male Mottled Duck. An entirely black rump is a feature of male Mallard, but NOT Mottled or Mexican ducks, with the latter two having the black rump feathers edged in cinnamon or buff.


Interestingly, the same site had a female Mallard x Mexican Duck, although it's possibly a 2nd-generation bird (known as an f2 hybrid, or one generation removed from the hybridization event, which would be f1), as the bird was quite Mallard-like, but with a bright orange bill with very little in the way of dark smudging on it and with the white borders to the speculum being Mallard-like, but narrower than typical for Mallard. I included photos of both birds in my eBird checklist.

Sincerely,

Tony Leukering
Denver

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Sunday, 1 February 2026

Re: [cobirds] What's Up with That-Goose Edition

I'm no goose expert, but I see a lot of them in Denver City Park through the winter.
What interests me most about this one are the notable striations up and down its neck plumage.
That characteristic reminds me most of Greater White-fronted Goose and also of some domestic geese with Graylag and/or Swan Goose parentage.
I'd wager one or the other of these might be in this bird's genetic makeup.

Patrick O'Driscoll
Denver



On Sun, Feb 1, 2026 at 3:20 PM Doug Ward <dougward@frontier.com> wrote:

Several of us conducted a DFO field trip yesterday (Sat., 31 Jan'26) along the South Platte River near the Overland Golf Course (Denver Co.) to study waterfowl at close range.  While we had good looks at many of the beautiful regulars on this stretch, including the now famous drake BARROW'S GOLDENEYE, had a very weird hybrid goose that had us stumped, so asking COBirders to chuck in their thoughts (photos below and attached):

 

 

 

Initial thoughts were Greater White-fronted X Cackling Goose based on its general coloration, including its superficial "white-front", but also its bright yellow-orange legs as can be seen in the second photo.  After further examination of Bonnie's (Prado) great photos, now thinking this guy has too much white on its face, so now thinking it may be a Snow X Cackling back cross with a full Cackling.  Again, interested in what the group thinks – maybe we start a New York Times daily puzzle…GooseConnections!

 

Bonnie was our "hybrid whisperer" yesterday as she also found this likely Snow X Cackling hybrid in the horde as well:

 

So again, interested in your opinions so let the group know, these guys are fun.  If interested in our morning, here is a link to the trip report: https://ebird.org/tripreport/470832

 

Good Goosing,

Doug

Currently Denver

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[cobirds] What's Up with That-Goose Edition

Several of us conducted a DFO field trip yesterday (Sat., 31 Jan’26) along the South Platte River near the Overland Golf Course (Denver Co.) to study waterfowl at close range.  While we had good looks at many of the beautiful regulars on this stretch, including the now famous drake BARROW’S GOLDENEYE, had a very weird hybrid goose that had us stumped, so asking COBirders to chuck in their thoughts (photos below and attached):

 

 

 

Initial thoughts were Greater White-fronted X Cackling Goose based on its general coloration, including its superficial “white-front”, but also its bright yellow-orange legs as can be seen in the second photo.  After further examination of Bonnie’s (Prado) great photos, now thinking this guy has too much white on its face, so now thinking it may be a Snow X Cackling back cross with a full Cackling.  Again, interested in what the group thinks – maybe we start a New York Times daily puzzle…GooseConnections!

 

Bonnie was our “hybrid whisperer” yesterday as she also found this likely Snow X Cackling hybrid in the horde as well:

 

So again, interested in your opinions so let the group know, these guys are fun.  If interested in our morning, here is a link to the trip report: https://ebird.org/tripreport/470832

 

Good Goosing,

Doug

Currently Denver

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