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Articles

Vol. 9 No. 3 (1978)

NOTES: FIRST NORTH AMERICAN SPECIMEN OF THE SPOTBILL DUCK

Submitted
September 1, 2025
Published
July 1, 1978

Abstract

On 30 October 1977 Trapp, MacIntosh, and Malcolm E. Isleib flushed a large, dark-bodied, pale-headed, dabbling duck from the estuary of Kalsin Bay, Kodiak Island, Alaska (57°34' N, 152°27' W). MacIntosh tentatively identified the bird as a Spotbill Duck (Anas poecilorhyncha) on 31 October and on 1 November it was collected, providing the first specimen and second record of this Asiatic duck for North America. The adult female weighed 1050 g, had heavy fat, and the ovary contained varied-sized follicles (largest 1.5 mm diameter). The specimen (UAM 3631), determined to be A. p. zonorhyncha on the basis of the faint moustachial stripe (Scott 1968, Daniel D. Gibson pers. comm.), has been deposited in the University of Alaska Museum. Previously, a Spotbill Duck identified as zonorhyncha remained at Adak Island, Aleutian Islands, Alaska for nearly a year, 1970–71 (Byrd et al. 1974; photograph published, Gibson 1971).

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