Waterfowl ID - This one has me stumped!

[Nick87]

Oh yeah, another favorite! I don't recall my family ever ordering anything out of those catalogs though..............

Cuz the pages were stuck together.

 

[ismith]

 

[Mallardsx2]

It’s a drake black duck/mallard cross.

 

[seeth07]

It’s a drake black duck/mallard cross.

for sure not because that bill has zero mallard in it of which a black duck still technically is a mallard

 

[Gellar]

It's a duck.

I’d be a little more specific. Its a dead duck

 

[Moserkr]

The bill makes me think its a widgeon cross. Was it male or female? Im guessing female widgeon/mallard cross. Flying alone or with other ducks?

 

[seeth07]

I don't think its a typical north american duck

 

[ismith]

I don't think its a typical north american duck

Yup

 

[.270Rem]

Gadwall x wigeon hybrid is my guess.

 

[Nick87]

View attachment 311265

I'm getting old I'm just excited about those prices.

 

[jrabq]

I was going to guess Muscovy/mallard hybrid.

That's my guess also. When I was a kid we had one as a pet, he imprinted on humans and followed us around, I'll see if I can dog up a picture.

 

[mtmiller]

What did you think it was when you pulled the trigger?

 

[grizzly63]

"just behind the bead"

 

[Bryerific]

Which region was it shot in? And when was it shot? I definitely don’t have an answer, but it would be helpful to know more

 

[seeth07]

What did you think it was when you pulled the trigger?

I did not shoot this bird. It was sent to me asking me with how much I waterfowl hunt and am involved with waterfowl hunting if I knew. So far I'm stumped and don't have a for sure answer. Some thoughts posted here have pushed me to make a few calls and I've been digging deep in research and so far I still got nothing. The bill is what is throwing everyone off. The muscovy existing in this bird is likely based on many opinions but no one can explain the bill.

 

[jrabq]

This picture of our pet duck probably won't answer the question, but some might find it amusing. We had some "flying mallard" domestic ducks, which were hard to distinguish from wild mallards at first glance. Our neighbor had some muscovies, don't know the details of their heritage but the were large with a lot of black on them, and they could also fly. Anyway, we were nearly certain our pet duck "woody" was a hybrid from the mallards and muscovies, the only one to survive that clutch. He apparently imprinted on humans; he liked to be around us and loved to go swimming with us. He also liked the dogs and would run his bill through their fur like he was grooming them (as in picture), we guessed he was picking out fleas? Even our worthless Irish setter would lay down and let the duck go over him, some bird dog!

Anyway, when he got to be about a year or a little older he finally decided he liked the company of the other ducks on the river, and quit following us around.

Just a final comment about the mystery duck. A complicating factor is there is a wide spectrum of domestic ducks of mallard origin, and muscovy origin, so there is probably a large variation in what a mallard x muscovy hybrid can look like, and that could include bill color. So you might never get a perfect answer. But my guess is mallard x muscovy.

 

[Hello?]

I did not shoot this bird. It was sent to me asking me with how much I waterfowl hunt and am involved with waterfowl hunting if I knew. So far I'm stumped and don't have a for sure answer. Some thoughts posted here have pushed me to make a few calls and I've been digging deep in research and so far I still got nothing. The bill is what is throwing everyone off. The muscovy existing in this bird is likely based on many opinions but no one can explain the bill.

Hello, can’t believe my bird made it on this page. I shot it in Northern California. I am a very new hunter so I was stumped too. It was in a group of wiegons. Thank u for looking into this.

 

[Hello?]

Here are pics of the head next to a mallard

 

[brownbear932008]

It almost looks like it contains a variant of about four species to me possibly. Black duck, pintail, gadwall, and bald plate.

 

[Nicoli7153]

Here are pics of the head next to a mallard

It seems to have some widgeon (baldpate) characteristics in the bill and feathers on the head. But nothing definitive. Think it would just be counted as "a duck", in your bag limit as opposed to one of the species that has restrictions as part of the aggregate limit. A "no pointer" as we used to say!