Wikipedia:Featured picture candidates/Cinnamon teal

• Can there be variations within the pure species? Some more Jimmy Durante than others? --Janke | Talk 18:41, 6 December 2022 (UTC)[reply]

• I think of the Cinnamon Teal more as the Gérard Depardieu of the duck world. The full Jimmy Durante is the Northern Shoveler. :)

As for the serious question, yeah, there's certainly individual variation. I'm no expert, just a longtime casual birder, but I did a quick survey of a bunch of other photos of wild Cinnamon Teal, and this does seem to be within the range of variation. Also, the hybrids I've seen photos of (at least those with the smaller-billed Blue-winged Teal) have pretty obvious plumage characteristics that give them away. So I withdraw my reservation about this bird's pedigree. I do, however, still wish that the lead photo in the article was of an individual with a larger bill, since I don't think this one quite captures the species' normal appearance, as least in my experience. But that's a personal thing, and I won't oppose the nomination because of it. Choliamb (talk) 03:02, 7 December 2022 (UTC)[reply]

I drew a straight line from the tip of the bill to the center of the eye (pupil) to the back of the head, and I compared ratios of bill length (along this line) to eye location and back of the head. I didn't see any meaningful difference between the nom image and the example you gave [1]. It might just be lighting and perception. Bammesk (talk) 03:27, 7 December 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Oh, that's interesting. They certainly look different to me, but I won't argue with you, and I cheerfully concede that so much of this is very subjective. The length of the bill can also appear different depending on the position of the head and neck, and whether the feathers on the head are ruffled or smooth, which changes the perception of head size and shape. (This is a notorious ID problem with some other species of duck, like Greater and Lesser Scaup). In any case, I'm happy to let go of my quibble in this case. Cheers, Choliamb (talk) 03:57, 7 December 2022 (UTC)[reply]

We're getting into a discussion of RLQ, i.e rostrilongitudequotient - a term coined in the research of how the length of Donald Duck's bill changed over the years in Carl Barks' comics... ;-) --Janke | Talk 18:44, 7 December 2022 (UTC)[reply]

I can't tell you how happy it made me to learn about this, and to find this illustration of the progression. I never read the comic books, but I'm a big fan of the cartoon Donald, especially the early shorts from the 30s and 40s, so the Barks proportions from the 1940s, which stick close to what I'm used to, look right to me. The plump, short-necked, squash-billed Barks Donald of the 1960s, by contrast, looks as if he's been in an industrial accident that left him horribly disfigured. As with the Cinnamon Teal, the more bill, the better! Choliamb (talk) 20:09, 7 December 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Promoted File:Sarcelle cannelle (Spatula cyanoptera).jpg --Armbrust ^{The Homunculus} 03:56, 15 December 2022 (UTC)[reply]