Mallard variant? East Anglia. (1 Viewer)

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Luke16

Well-known member

• Aug 28, 2016

• #1

Are these two birds young or variant Mallards? There were other adult Mallards nearby and I assumed they were but haven't seen this appearance before. Thanks.

 

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Corvus cornix

Well-known member

• Aug 28, 2016

• #2

Yes, domestic types.

Cheers

 

Z

Zheljko

Well-known member

• Aug 30, 2016

• #3

Luke16 said:

Are these two birds young or variant Mallards? There were other adult Mallards nearby and I assumed they were but haven't seen this appearance before. Thanks.

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Domestic-type mallards. They are probably from the same brood. There is actually a specific breed with that coloration.

 

Nutcracker

Stop Brexit!

• Aug 30, 2016

• #4

Zheljko said:

There is actually a specific breed with that coloration.

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Is there? I've seen lots of them (it's one of the commonest domesticated Mallard variants in urban parks), but never seen a breed name cited despite searches. Someone once told me they thought 'Copenhagen duck' but I never found any confirmation of that at all.

 

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stevethehydra

Well-known member

• Aug 31, 2016

• #5

I think rather than being a breed as such, this colour phase occurs in several domestic breeds (and is one of the commoner ones - probably with a fairly simple genetic inheritance pattern - to "escape" into the wild population and end up in structurally wild-type birds).