After a little research into domestic duck breeds, it seems that the
distinctive dark brown and white ducks are either Blue Swedish Ducks or
Pomeranian Ducks or a combination thereof. They are derived from Mallards as
are some of the other varieties I saw; probably Rouen and Aylesbury Ducks so
various gradations from wild Mallards to white farmyard ducks are to be
expected. As Philip pointed out, they are not really hybrids unless other
species were used to develop the domestic strains.
Of course, there were some ducks with very strange features that could well
have been Mallard hybrids but I didn't get a close enough look at them to
hazard a guess at their ancestry.
Cheers
David
Sent from my iPad
> On 31 Jul 2014, at 1:30 pm, "Philip Veerman" <> wrote:
>
> I don't understand the terminology here. The domestic ducks are surely also
> Mallards, derived from Mallards and have not become sufficiently separate to
> not still interbreed. The point is that they are the same species, which
> means it comes down to how you use the word "hybrid". Also the extent to
> which there is input in history of other species in the mix. There
> presumably are also wild Mallards that have not at some time in their
> ancestry had interbreeding with domestic ducks.
>
> Philip
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Birding-Aus On Behalf Of
> David Clark
> Sent: Thursday, 31 July 2014 7:49 PM
> To: Daniel Nuijten
> Cc: birding-aus
> Subject: Re: [Birding-Aus] Duck ID - Belgium
>
>
> Quite a few Mallard hybrids, but that's not surprising after reading the
> paper on Mallard hybridisation!
>
> I haven't seen any Mandarin ducks yet. Plenty of geese and swans and
> identifying the geese is a challenge. I just saw a couple of flocks of
> Canada Geese.
>
> Cheers
>
> David
>
> Sent from my iPad
>
>> On 31 Jul 2014, at 10:54 am, Daniel Nuijten <>
>> wrote:
>>
>> They can be feral domestic ducks as well, but those are interbreeding
>> freely with mallards. Did you see any manderin ducks? The males should
> still be in full plumage.
>>
>>
>>> On Thu, Jul 31, 2014 at 10:41 AM, David Clark
>>> <> wrote: Thanks Daniel
>>>
>>> These ducks all had the same appearance and were not quite as common
>>> as the Mallards. I saw them at close quarters in Bruges but they
>>> were also present in good numbers on the wetlands north of Antwerp.
>>>
>>> Perhaps they are feral domestic ducks.
>>>
>>> Cheers
>>>
>>> David
>>>
>>> Sent from my iPad
>>>
>>>> On 31 Jul 2014, at 10:29 am, Daniel Nuijten <>
>>>> wrote:
>>>>
>>>> In Belgium you will find a lot of mallard x domestic hybrids.
>>>> Especially in Brussels these are more common then the wild form Mallard.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Best
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Daniel
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>> On Thu, Jul 31, 2014 at 10:24 AM, David Clark
>>>>> <> wrote: I have seen quite a few ducks of
>>>>> similar appearance that are not in my Birds of Northern Europe and
>>>>> Waterfowl apps.
>>>>>
>>>>> They are Mallard sized, a dark, chocolate brown colour with white
>>>>> breasts. The bill is the same shape and colour as a Mallard.
>>>>>
>>>>> Are they a Mallard hybrid?
>>>>>
>>>>> It has been interesting to see several Black Swans.
>>>>>
>>>>> Cheers
>>>>>
>>>>> David
>>>>>
>>>>> Sent from my iPad _______________________________________________
>
_______________________________________________
Birding-Aus mailing list
To change settings or unsubscribe visit:
http://birding-aus.org/mailman/listinfo/birding-aus_birding-aus.org
|
