2nd phase begins

[JShane]

I can't quite decide if this is a hybrid mallard or a pure mottled duck. Either way it topped off a decent day considering I'd been rained on twice, one storm chased me off the marsh for a half hour. Thank God it was in the upper 70's. Not a ton of birds out there but I was able to scratch out a few.

 

[Jbaldwin40]

And a tree duck to boot. My kid gets those in Texas where he is stationed.

 

[jrabq]

A little bit of green on the head, and some brown in the chest, I'll vote hybrid. But probably more mottled than mallard, by a lot.

 

[JShane]

just a couple more photos to assess thus birds status for those that may be interested. In my area we have a lot of resident hybrid mallards due to the high number of golf course ponds in our local retirement communities.

 

[jrabq]

The rump is a sure sign of some mallard genes, IMO.

Just a coincidence I shot a Mexican duck today that also showed sure signs of Mallard genes, very similar to your duck.

 

[JShane]

Wow no doubt a lot of similarities

 

[marshman]

Very interesting to me, sure do not see mottled or tree ducks up here in Washington.

 

[bigsky2]

Buddy shot this one a couple weeks ago. I've heard hens can start to take on drake characteristics if they get really old. What's your take, old hen or some kind of hybrid?

 

[jrabq]

View attachment 205998

Buddy shot this one a couple weeks ago. I've heard hens can start to take on drake characteristics if they get really old. What's your take, old hen or some kind of hybrid?

At first glance I was going to say hybrid, but the bill ain't right. Too late now to check for sex, unless he still had the whole bird.

I've always been a bit skeptical about the "old mallard hen" stories, but that duck does look odd. In addition to the bill some of the feathers on the back look "hen-ish". Google will turn up a lot of posts on the old Refuge forum, regarding this topic. It was debated so much it became somewhat of a joke.

 

[JShane]

View attachment 205998

Buddy shot this one a couple weeks ago. I've heard hens can start to take on drake characteristics if they get really old. What's your take, old hen or some kind of hybrid?

heck of a trophy regardless.

 

[marshman]

View attachment 205998

Buddy shot this one a couple weeks ago. I've heard hens can start to take on drake characteristics if they get really old. What's your take, old hen or some kind of hybrid?

I've seen a lot of ducks in 50 years hunting 'em that is a strange looking Mallard for sure, never seen one like that

 

[OntarioHunter]

View attachment 205998

Buddy shot this one a couple weeks ago. I've heard hens can start to take on drake characteristics if they get really old. What's your take, old hen or some kind of hybrid?

Looks like a mallard-widgeon hybrid. I would think those are rare.

Edit: Ducks Unlimited says mallard-widgeon hybrid is not uncommon.

 

[OntarioHunter]

At first glance I was going to say hybrid, but the bill ain't right. Too late now to check for sex, unless he still had the whole bird.

I've always been a bit skeptical about the "old mallard hen" stories, but that duck does look odd. In addition to the bill some of the feathers on the back look "hen-ish". Google will turn up a lot of posts on the old Refuge forum, regarding this topic. It was debated so much it became somewhat of a joke.

The bill is right for a mottled-mallard hybrid. Bright yellow with some black at the "gape" (where the bill opens at the base) is mottled characteristic. The wing speculum is definitely mallard with bold white stripes. The overall lighter color of head indicates mottled. Good that you got that one out of the gene pool.

 

[jrabq]

The bill is right for a mottled-mallard hybrid. Bright yellow with some black at the "gape" (where the bill opens at the base) is mottled characteristic. The wing speculum is definitely mallard with bold white stripes. The overall lighter color of head indicates mottled. Good that you got that one out of the gene pool.

Looks to be way too much black in the bill IMO, seems inconsistent with it being a drake of any mallard cross with black duck/mottled/Mexican duck. Just look at the bill in JShane's duck at the top of the thread. I also have photos of several Mallard/Mexican duck hybrids (probably 50/50) that look very similar to the "strange" duck in question, except their bill is almost all yellow.

There's always a chance of something atypical showing up, but a drake cross with that much black in the bill would be unusual.

 

[jrabq]

We are getting off the subject of JShane's thread, but here is an interesting website;

Intersex birds (and their confusion with hybrids)

intersex Mallard, Malmoe (Sweden), 27th December 2008 - copyright Carl Gunnar Gustavsson (photo ID: 1029) Introduction Intersex bi...

birdhybrids.blogspot.com

Several of these photos look like Bigsky2's post, #8, and are described as "intersex".

 

[JShane]

We are getting off the subject of JShane's thread, but here is an interesting website;

Intersex birds (and their confusion with hybrids)

intersex Mallard, Malmoe (Sweden), 27th December 2008 - copyright Carl Gunnar Gustavsson (photo ID: 1029) Introduction Intersex bi...

birdhybrids.blogspot.com

Several of these photos look like Bigsky2's post, #8, and are described as "intersex".

I'm digging the derail. Please continue I'm learning some useful info.

 

[JShane]

Good article. Made me think maybe an intersection duck is just an old female that's hit menopause and she's growing facial hair and an adams apple.