Mottled Ducks. Photo by Kanae Hirabayashi (click to see the larger version).

Kanae Hirabayashi and Luiz Munoz found two Mottled Ducks, both apparent males, at Montrose Beach on May 30. This is an unexpected and extraordinary sighting. Illinois has a handful of Mottled Duck records but this is a first for Cook County, and obviously Montrose. Unfortunately for other birders, a careless photographer got too close to the birds and they flew off. They haven’t been seen since. This is the 337th species of bird recorded at Montrose.

Addendum: The photos of these birds show evidence of hybridization with Mallards, specifically, curled uppertail coverts and white in the outer tail feathers. Therefore, Mottled Duck has been removed from the list of birds recorded at Montrose.

To see a list of the birds recorded at Montrose, please refer to the Birds Recorded at the Montrose Point Area in Chicago page.