Re: duck ID

• Messages sorted by: [ date ][ thread ][ subject ][ author ]
• Next message: Kate or Daryl: "coincidence?"
• Previous message: Anthony G. Futcher: "Re: duck ID"
• Maybe in reply to: andrew l rabin: "duck ID"
• Next in thread: Peter Robinson: "Re: duck ID"

Andy Rabin wrote:
>
>  I saw an unusual looking duck today in Greenbelt Lake, Prince George's
>County, MD. It was with a group of mallards and it was shaped like a
>mallard.  It was all black except for the front of its neck and top of its
>breast which were white.  The color pattern was very similar to that of a
>black scoter.  The bill was black and shaped like a mallard's and its legs
>were orange.
>
>  Was this just some weird mallard?  Or is it possible that it was a black
>scoter?
>

Andy:

        This is one of the commoner variations of Mallards found in public
areas (many birders call them "dock Mallards") where interbreeding with a
variety of dometic waterfowl is common. I ought to know, and don't, what
parental combinations cause this plumage. Over the past 25 years I have
seen several hundred birds like the one you describe, all around parks,
golf courses, and docks.

Rick

Rick Blom
rblom@blazie.com
Bel Air, Maryland

"Did St. Francis preach to the birds? Whatever for? If he really liked
birds he would have done better to preach to the cats."
Rebecca West

• Next message: Kate or Daryl: "coincidence?"
• Previous message: Anthony G. Futcher: "Re: duck ID"
• Maybe in reply to: andrew l rabin: "duck ID"
• Next in thread: Peter Robinson: "Re: duck ID"