speculum feathers

{{About|the patch found on some birds|other uses|Speculum (disambiguation){{!}}Speculum}}

{{short description|Patch on inner bird wings}}

File:Flickr - law keven - Happy Feathery Friday......jpg. The speculum feathers are bright blue with white edges]]

The speculum is a patch, often distinctly coloured, on the secondary wing feathers, or remiges, of some birds.

Examples of the colour(s) of the speculum in a number of ducks are:

• Common teal and green-winged teal: Iridescent green edged with buff.
• Blue-winged teal: Iridescent green.{{cite book|author1=Bellrose, Frank C. |author2=The Audubon Society |name-list-style=amp |year=1983|title=The Audubon Society Master Guide to Birding|isbn=1-4262-0072-2|publisher=National Geographic Society}} The species' common name comes from the sky-blue wing coverts.
• Crested duck and bronze-winged duck: Iridescent purple-bronze, edged white.{{Cite book|last=Madge|first=Steve|last2=Burn|first2=Hilary|title=Waterfowl: an Identification Guide to the Ducks, Geese, and Swans of the World|publisher=Houghton Mifflin|year=1988|location=Boston|isbn=0-395-46727-6|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/waterfowl00stev}}
• Pacific black duck: Iridescent green, edged light buff.
• Mallard: Iridescent purple-blue with white edges.{{cite book|author1=Dunn, Jon L. |author2=Alderfer, Jonathan |name-list-style=amp |year=2006|title=National Geographic Guide to the Birds of North America|isbn=1-4262-0072-2|publisher=National Geographic Society}}
• American black duck: Iridescent violet bordered in black and may have a thin white trailing edge.
• Northern pintail: Iridescent green in male and brown in female, both are white on trailing edge.
• Gadwall: Both sexes have white inner secondaries.
• Yellow-billed duck: Iridescent green or blue, bordered white.{{cite book|last1=Zimmerman|first1=Dale A. |last2=Turner|first2=Donald A. |last3=Pearson|first3=David J.|year=1999|title=Birds of Kenya and Northern Tanzania|isbn=0-691-01022-6|publisher=Princeton University Press}}

Bright wing speculums are also known from a number of other birds; among them are several parrots from the genus Amazona with red or orange speculums,{{cite book|author1=Robert S. Ridgely |author2=John A. Gwynne, Jr. |name-list-style=amp |year=1989|title=Birds of Panama with Costa Rica, Nicaragua, and Honduras|isbn=0-691-08529-3|publisher=Princeton University Press}} though in this case the colors are pigmentary and non-iridescent.