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Posted by Bill Pranty on 20:02:33 01/30/07
In Reply to: Re: duck i.d. help please posted by Christian Newton
This is not a pure Mallard if it has any Mallard genes at all. The bill would be mottled orange and black if hen Mallard.
The tail seems to how some white, and this supposedly is a character of Mallard but not Mottled. Also, the face is streaked , and this oo supposedly is a feature of Mallard but not Mottled.
So it may be a Mallard x Mottled Duck hybrid, but I guess I have never really examined the faces or tails of Mottled Ducks to see if they do differ from hen Mallards.
Based solely on range, it's certainly not a Mallard x "Mexican Duck" intergrade, which has never been known to occur east of southern Texas.
BTW, in reference to my previous post, Robin Diaz asked whether any "pure" "Mexican Ducks" ocur in the US. When I wrote my previous post, I grabbed the nearest field guide (NGS 5), which stated that all "Mexican Ducks" in the US are Mallard x "Mexican Duck" intergrades. But other sources give different answers. The AOU Check-list (1998), the NGS "Complete Birds" guide, and the Sibley Guide all mention that some (Sibley states a "few") "Mexican Ducks" in the SW US are "pure."
So I stand corrected on that point.
Best regards,
Bill Pranty
Bayonet Point, Florida
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