There are Pacific Black Ducks around Brisbane with bright orange legs and
feet too. I have photos of a pair from Forest Lake.
Cheers,
Sandra
-----Original Message-----
From: Birding-Aus On Behalf Of
Mike Carter
Sent: Friday, 4 July 2014 12:30 PM
To: Nikolas Haass; Jim Tate; Kev Lobotomi; Russell Woodford;
Cc: Peter Menkhorst
Subject: Duck
A rather late entry to this debate. I have no doubt that Russell's bird was
of feral origin, a hybrid farm-yard type duck.
But the increasing occurrence of bright orange feet in otherwise 'perfect'
Pacific Black Ducks south-east of Melbourne is surprising, difficult to
explain and perhaps of some concern. Not so long ago I would count an
orange-footed bird as a Shoveler but can no longer rely on that as an ID
feature as more Black Ducks now show it. Surprising because Pacific Black
Ducks are abundant, Mallard are extremely rare and the larger free flying
farm-yard ducks very uncommon. As an illustration I took the attached shot
showing Black Duck with orange feet on one of our recent surveys on a
wetland SE of Melbourne. I realise that some individuals have brighter feet
than others but it seems to me that the brightness and frequency of orange
feet in Black Ducks is increasing.
Mike Carter
30 Canadian Bay Road
Mount Eliza VIC 3930
Tel (03) 9787 7136
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