# Identify this duck I keep seeing at a local lake **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 3, 2002, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-duck-i-keep-seeing-at-a-local-lake/126854 "2002-09-03T19:33:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Daowajan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3bc359/32.png) [@Daowajan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daowajan)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2002, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-duck-i-keep-seeing-at-a-local-lake/126854/1 "2002-09-03T19:33:38Z")
I keep seeing this duck at the lake by my place, and I’m wondering what kind of duck it is. All I can offer is a physical description: it’s about the size of a mallard, it’s either black or very dark brown, and it has a white splotch on its chest. ---
**Author:** ![photopat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e95f7d/32.png) [@photopat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/photopat)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2002, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-duck-i-keep-seeing-at-a-local-lake/126854/2 "2002-09-03T19:45:46Z")
Oh, that’s Bob. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2002, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-duck-i-keep-seeing-at-a-local-lake/126854/3 "2002-09-03T20:10:03Z")
According to [the eNature field guide to ducklike birds](http://www.enature.com/search/show_search_byShape.asp?curGroupID=1&shapeID=965), it is probably either one of the scoters or, unlikely, a king eider. Check out the pictures and descriptions there for a better identity. ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2002, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-duck-i-keep-seeing-at-a-local-lake/126854/4 "2002-09-03T20:13:22Z")
It’s probably some kind of a farm duck (domestic duck). None of the color patterns of wild ducks that I’m familiar with sound like “black with a white chest spot”. Why would a scoter or a king eider be hanging around a park pond in Wisconsin? They’re both “open ocean” ducks, I thought. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2002, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-duck-i-keep-seeing-at-a-local-lake/126854/5 "2002-09-03T20:18:05Z")
I drew great mirth from seeing DDG as the last respondant to this thread. Bob? Heh heh again. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2002, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-duck-i-keep-seeing-at-a-local-lake/126854/6 "2002-09-03T21:19:39Z")
The white patch on the chest does suggest either a domestic duck, or some kind of a hybrid with a domestic duck. There is a possibility that it could be an [American Black Duck](http://www.enature.com/fieldguide/showSpeciesSH.asp?curGroupID=1&shapeID=965&curPageNum=27&recnum=BD0397) with an albinistic patch. Most domestic mallards are white. Domestic [Muscovy Ducks](http://www.ducks.org/waterfowling/gallery/index.asp?duck=98) can be black with white patches in odd places. It’s unlikely to be a scoter or eider, both from the description and the location. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2002, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-duck-i-keep-seeing-at-a-local-lake/126854/7 "2002-09-03T21:42:47Z")
I’ll be honest. The first thing that popped into my mind, before I read any of the responses was, “it has to be Bob”. ---
**Author:** ![dinahmoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8797f3/32.png) [@dinahmoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dinahmoe)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2002, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-duck-i-keep-seeing-at-a-local-lake/126854/8 "2002-09-04T03:55:10Z")
Truthfully, I immediatly thought it was Ned, but if two other people say that it’s Bob, then that’s who it was:D ---
**Author:** ![Savaka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/858c86/32.png) [@Savaka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Savaka)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2002, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-duck-i-keep-seeing-at-a-local-lake/126854/9 "2002-09-04T04:52:43Z")
Hey, great website, **Polycarp**! Thanks for that. So, is everyone posting in this thread birders, then? "Cause, y’know, not to brag or anything, but I had a Pileated Woodpecker in my backyard last month. \ ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2002, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-duck-i-keep-seeing-at-a-local-lake/126854/10 "2002-09-04T15:25:43Z")
Possibly a Blue Swedish? [http://cyborganic.com/people/feathersite/Poultry/Ducks/Swedes/BRKSwedes.html](http://cyborganic.com/people/feathersite/Poultry/Ducks/Swedes/BRKSwedes.html) ( … lovely plumage … it’s pinin’ for the millpond … Anyway, they have white splotches and sometimes breed black) And here’s the list of domestic duck varieties it came from: [http://cyborganic.com/people/feathersite/Poultry/Ducks/BRKDucks.html](http://cyborganic.com/people/feathersite/Poultry/Ducks/BRKDucks.html) ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2002, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-duck-i-keep-seeing-at-a-local-lake/126854/11 "2002-09-04T16:17:48Z")
No, I asked Bob, and he says he doesn’t hang out there any more.