Hoping someone might be able to help us identify this duck we saw during our walk this evening. We’ve been going through our bird ID books and online sites and can’t get a firm identification, but hubby thinks it may be a female pintail / bahama duck (southern version of the pintail). The duck is mostly white with some brown spots, brown head with a white stripe up the back, dark bill.
Sorry for the picture quality, I had to use my cell phone (from a distance): Duck
Assuming that the bird in front is a Mallard, it’s too big, heavy, and short-necked to be any kind of pintail. My first guess is that it’s a domestic Muscovy Duck. The domestic varieties can come in all kinds of variegated patterns of black and white (and sometimes brown). It’s the right size and shape, and it has the weird kind of color pattern that is typical for domestic Muscovies.
Ohh, thought that was it for a minute, but it looks like Muscovy Ducks have red on face/bill. This one has an entirely brown bill.
Yeah, they typically do, but they’re very variable. Given the resemblance otherwise I would call it that, unless a better photo can resolve the issue. If it’s not that I’m not sure what else it would be.
If that is a Mallard in the front it may be an leucistic female Mallard, like here
I’d bet that’s what it was! Thanks JFLuvly!
I’m pretty sure it’s not; at least it’s not a leucistic wild Mallard. This again assumes that the duck on the right is a Mallard (a male in eclipse plumage, or a juvenile male), based on the apparent green on the top of the head. (If the green is an artifact, then that bird might be a teal.) The bird on the left clearly is much larger and heavier than the one on the right, and has a much heavier bill, and is not the same species.
Another feature that I think confirms Muscovy is the fact that the tail extends well beyond the tips of the folded wings. In the Mallard, and all other Anas ducks, the tail doesn’t extend much beyond the tip of the folded wings.
In cases of birds in aberrant plumage (albinos or partial albinos, leucistic or melanistic individuals, hybrids) the most important thing to look at is structure and proportions. The bird on the left is similar in structure to a Muscovy, and does not resemble a wild Mallard.
This said, an escaped domestic breed of Mallard ancestry is a possibility, since some are larger than wild Mallards. It could also be some kind of domestic x wild Mallard hybrid, though I don’t think that would result in the kind of coloration we see. But because of the structure my money is still on Muscovy.
Colibri, can mallards and domestic ducks crossbreed?
Yes. Most domestic ducks were derived from the Mallard, and are the same species (Anas platyrhynchos). However, most species in the genus Anas can interbreed and form fertile hybrids anyway.
Some domestic ducks, however, are derived from the Muscovy (Cairina moschata), which was originally domesticated in the Americas.
