Hi all
I would agree with the hybrid bit, but I reckon there's a chance there's
Hardhead in it! The bill is very Hardhead shaped, with colour a bit like
Hardhead too, dark grey base with a pale terminal third of the tip. Also wing
pattern a bit odd for Mallard/Black Duck. Not too much iridescence there & a
slight whitish wingbar (more like a Hardhead). I've heard that Mallard males
are very randy & may mate with anything. Perhaps a male mated with a Hardhead &
produced this? With ducks, I've also heard that many ducks, even those not in
the same genus can hybridize & produce young. Whether something like this would
be fertile, would be very unlikely I would imagine. Is there anyone out there
who can enlighten us with knowledge that is better than the "I've heard" stage
of information I'd be most interested. These pond ducks usually bore the hell
out of me, but this bird looks a bit interesting.-Kevin Bartram
> Date: Sat, 21 Jun 2014 09:53:20 +1000
> From:
> To:
> Subject: [Birding-Aus] Duck
>
> Hi everyone
>
> This bird got my pulse racing this morning. Viewed through a cheap par of
> bins I keep in the kitchen, I was starting to dream of all those northern
> hemisphere possibilities. When I got down to the beach with my camera, I
> found I was looking at either a female Mallard, or a Pacific Black Duck x
> Mallard hybrid. Can anyone tell me which it is? The orange feet suggest
> Mallard, but there is a hint of the upturned tail feathers diagnostic of
> male Mallard, so perhaps it is a male hybrid?
>
> Russell Woodford
> Limeburners Lagoon, Corio
>
> PS If you can see this image, then it's OK to post images to Birding-Aus,
> as long as you keep them under about 1Mb
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