what type of waterfowl is this?

Is this an immature mallard? I can't find any pictures to compare it to.

A duck!

I'm sorry, I just couldn't help myself! Actually, I have no idea.

It's a hybrid domestic mallard. They are good to eat.



Kent in SD

What the heck is a hybrid domestic mallard?

David, Kent is right. Quite a few domestic duck species are close genetically to mallards and can crossbreed with them, producing an amazing array of plumage varieties. Often these ducks move around with wild mallard flocks, and it can be surprising to see one of those oddities standing out within a flock of mallards.

Basically, the offspring of an escape from a duck farm. The mallards on duck farms look a bit different, since the have been bred for meat rather than randomly or to keep their appearance.

I've seen more than a few mutants like this hanging around one of the local ponds and it took me a while to figure out what it was. More so, since I am not a birder and don't intend to become one.

LOL, David, and a good question! Good one, Kent! A very nice way of saying that it's a mutt duck. Some of them are quite pretty, though. And some of them look like a cross with a "domestic" goose. Is that possible? A "domestic goose?" Crossed with a mallard? Hmmm... human engineered duck evolution... I think I'll quit here!

Thanks for posting the image. That was fun.

There is a big difference between a duck and a goose. (Just ask anyone who has ever been "ducked".)

I occasionally see ducks that are reputed to be hybrids between mallards and mottled ducks. Local bird people are concerned that interbreeding with mallards will ultimately spell the demise of local populations of mottled ducks.

This looks like a mallard to me...when was it taken: ie: time of year?

I will just throw out another possibility. Like many have said, Mallards can hybridize with other ducks quite easily. It causes problems with closely related ducks with smallish populations such as Mottled Ducks in Florida as well as several islands around the world where Mallards have been introduced (New Zealand comes to mind). Florida birders often refer to Mallard x Mottled Duck hybrids as "Muddled Ducks".

The other possibility I was going to mention is a Mallard x American Black Duck cross. This happens with some regularity in the east and there was a wave of literature in the 1970s claiming that the Black Duck population crash was due to the increase of released Mallards for hunting and thereby increased hybridization. Essentially, the ideas was exactly what Buck was talking about. However, if you look at the population trends as demonstrated by hunting success by duck hunters (big assumption there) and breeding records then the Black Duck population decline slowed and eventually became relatively stable after bag limits for Black Duck were changed to 2 birds in the 1970s somehow. The majority of literature looking at Mallards causing Black Duck decline through hybridization also dwindled.

I'm not making any judgement on hunters here. Just thought I would throw this out there. I took a class my senior year at Bowdoin College where we looked at population trends for ducks on Merrymeeting Bay (a superb waterfowl migration stopover and coincidentally good hunting spot) in Midcoast Maine. My part of the project was to look at the Black Duck and Mallard issue and thats what I came up with. Lots of other possibilities and the data only showed a correlation, not a cause/effect relationship. Still a very suggestive correlation.

What got me on this is that male Mallard x American Black Duck hybrids look similar to the one posted. I think Sibley illustrates it the North American guide, not the regionals, but I can't remember. It's in one of the major field guides.

My hope was to share some light on the subject but I think I probably just made it more confusing!

Drew

Could it be a Mallard coming out of its eclipse plumage?

"Could it be a Mallard coming out of its eclipse plumage? "
My thoughts too. Just looks like a male Mallard that's not into it's breeding plumage yet to me.