Pacific Splashdown!

Hi Tark
Still pretty sure #1 and #2 are CT.Your pictures show the difficulty of ID from photos....those birds have a deep blue/black head, don't they ?? I'm sure you know the head was green, as you saw the bird in the field, but the photo shows a differently, in this case all the other features say "CT" but at other times photo ID based on colour can be very mis-leading....I'm starting to sound like Denis.... :-).
Hi Denis only kiddin,if we all took the time you do to explain our reasons for ID we would all learn a lot quicker...Thanks.

I have been thinking Chestnut Teal for 1 & 2 due to some weird light/colour aberation/ darkening effect on the neck..
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interesting discussion but..

Nice shots Tark, I think I will leave 1 and 2 to the experts.
:)

Dennis did explain this once before with one of my pics. It seems that the green can only be seen when the light shines off the head at the right angle.Check out you'r pic 3 and you will see that only part of the head is showing green.
Ray

HI Tark
You may have a cross as it does sit in the water lower and it's head looks a different shape beak longer you will have to try and get some close shots for us mate thanks for sharing.

Hi everybody - Can't a guy leave town for 2 days?
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Definitely first 3 images areimages of a male Chestnut Teal.
The 3rd image is a classic male Chestnut Teal, complete with the red eye. It should be kept as a "reference" image.
The white spot on the flanks and white underwing "wing pits" fits perfectly with the BiBY description.
http://birdsinbackyards.net/finder/display.cfm?id=200
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Re the last image - (different time and place, it seems) it does appear somewhat different, but I am inclined to say Chestnut Teal still. I am discounting the blue vs green for the moment. The Australasian Shoveler has a brown body and white patch on the flank, but it a much larger duck, with a distinctively shaped head and a very long bill.
BiBY says: "The Australasian Shoveler is a low-floating, dark headed duck, with a low sloping forehead blending to a heavy, square-cut, shovel-tipped bill. The male in breeding plumage has a deep grey-blue head with a vertical white crescent between the bright-yellow eye and the bill The back and rump are black, and the shoulder and wing coverts are blue-grey with several white bars. The underparts are chestnut, with white patches to the rear of the flanks."
And further on BiBY also says:
"The breeding plumage of the Australasian Shoveler is similar to the Chestnut Teal, A. castanea, though this is a much smaller bird, with a green, rather than blue, head and a less massive bill. When dabbling, (feeding with head under the water) the Shoveler's orange legs are distinctive."
http://birdsinbackyards.net/finder/display.cfm?id=210
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Here is a set of images from the Canberra Ornithologists Gallery for the Australasian Shoveler. http://photogallery.canberrabirds.org.au/swan_ducks.htm#AUSV The really clear images (several of them) show grey or bluish head, long sloping beak, yellow eye and a very distinctive white stripe in front of the eye. The white a spot on the flanks is relatively small. This species does appear to sit lower on the water, but even the 4th image above does not have the correct beak shape and head angle.
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Re the apparent blue or black or green head, the colour is more apparent than real. It is not created by pigment, but is referred to as a "structural colour".
Read this explanation from a fellow blogger of mine.
http://snailseyeview.blogspot.com/2006/12/why-blue-birds-are-blue.html.
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Tark has already acknowledged the problem of the angle of the sun. That definitely changes the appearance.
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Hope these comments help.
Cheers
Denis

Hi Tark
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Gelmir is right. Your most recently posted image is of a pair of Mallards, possibly not pure bred birds. The Mallard is considerably larger than even a Pacific Black Duck, and much larger than your Chestnut Teals.
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There are many repeated "themes" in duck plumage which make IDs a bit confusing. For example Shelduck males have a dark head, sometimes greenish., and have a white ring around the throat, just as your, male Mallard does. But with a suite of features, such as wing markings, habits, etc, they fall into different groups and one can ID them (eventually).
Australian Shelduck.
http://www.birdsinbackyards.net/bird/209
Mallard
http://www.birdsinbackyards.net/bird/184
Note the curled up tail feathers on the Mallard. Legs are always orange, but the Shoveler also has orange legs, but its beak is quite different.
Keep on battling. You will get the hang of them all.
Cheers
Denis

Hi All
Just to see the results I've just tried a Google image searh for 'chestnut teal'.... try it and see how many are incorrectly labled....not the best way to get an ID. !!

Hi Ed
I know that problem - You keep "posting" and nothing appears to happen, so you try again. Bugger! Page 2
I did the Google Image Search and found a few odd results, including a Fairy Penguin.
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However I did find this - a Guide to Waterfowl.
http://www.dse.vic.gov.au/DSE/nrenrt.nsf/LinkView/DA3E15465FED1BB7CA257376001DA17FC1DB2757E23C4965CA257376001BB03F
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It is posted by the Victorian Dept which controls Duck Hunting (don't start me on that!).
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But it has good sketches of all the birds we have been talking about, with body sketches, images of birds in flight, showing diagnostic wing patches, upper and under, etc.
It is very good. We should all "bookmark it" or save as a "Favourite".
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I shall post it on its own page as well, to help people find it (as it is hidden on Page 2 here).
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Cheers
Denis