Bird Detective is this some ofcourse migrant or a cross breed

mpewtress

wrote

16/04/2010 07:44:30

Looks like a hybrid duck

Tommy

wrote

17/04/2010 19:30:23

Yes I agree, a hybrid duck

Ferrit

wrote

21/04/2010 01:27:33

It’s a Farmyard Duck, technically not a hybrid as the only species involved is the Mallard Anas platyrhynchchos, over hundreds if not thousands of years man has selectively bred wild Mallards to produce all the hundreds of varieties of farmyard duck we see today, these then escape or are released and interbreed with each other and with wild Mallard producing an endless variety of size shape and colours. They can occasionally interbreed with other Anas species as can wild Mallards but this is quite the exception and most odd ducks will have a pure Mallard ancestry. The big exception is of course Muscovy Ducks Cairina moschata, which are quite common on some duck ponds and rivers, which have also been selectively bred from wild birds that where originally native to South America, these still adhere pretty much to the wild Muscovy shape and size but now come in a multitude of colour patterns. They are normally pretty easy to identify as the have a large area of bare skin on the face around the beak and eye which is normally red in colour. Hope this helps, Ferrit

bernie beck

wrote

19/05/2010 17:26:20

looks like a cross,seems to have mallard in it

BexBucks

wrote

14/01/2012 21:25:39

I think it may be a Mallard with a big chunk of the domestic duck known as an Aylesbury Duck. Aylesbury ducks are pure white with yellow bills, quite a large duck. I live in Aylesbury and although there aren't all that many about any more, where they are found near mallards we often see 'bitzers' like this one.