[Jane P]

I am ok with garden birds but not sure what type of duck this is? Advice please!

[Keith Dickinson]

A mallard with a pigmentation mutation allowing the pigment that normally would only colour the head feathers to colour the body feathers as well.

[nickderry]

Would have to agree, the curly tail feathers are the giveaway for mallard. What an odd bird!

[Jane P]

Thanks, both - mystery solved!

[AlexC]

Wow! What a shocking coloration! Very interesting looking!

[Jane P]

It is odd, isn't it. That's what prompted my husband to photograph it. I never thought about it being a mutation, just thought it was some sort of strange duck - which I suppose it is!

[saluki]

Originally Posted by Keith Dickinson

A mallard with a pigmentation mutation allowing the pigment that normally would only colour the head feathers to colour the body feathers as well.

Or a Cayuga (a domestic duck) x Mallard hybrid.

http://www.e-chickens.com/cayugapic.htm

saluki

[Keith Dickinson]

Originally Posted by saluki

Or a Cayuga (a domestic duck) x Mallard hybrid.

http://www.e-chickens.com/cayugapic.htm

saluki

Never seen one of those before. Cheers for the link.

[Craig Houghton]

Are ducks more likely to show variation or to crossbreed than songbirds and the like? Through posts and through other reading, I've noticed more variation in this group.

-Craig

[birdman]

I think ducks are particularly prone to cross-breeding - enough to get "common" hybrids described in field guides. And Mallards in particular will have a go at anything!

[Keith Dickinson]

I think that it is because ducks are randy little b****rs and will mate with anything. There's also the fact that ducks have been domesticated for many thousands of years during which time a certain amount of selective breeding will have been done, whether intentional or not, by the farmers.
Passerines courtship & breeding behaviour tends to be more strictly defined, so less chance of two birds of different species mating, and they have not been domesticated as such.

[J Jones]

Originally Posted by birdman

I think ducks are particularly prone to cross-breeding - enough to get "common" hybrids described in field guides. And Mallards in particular will have a go at anything!

Hybrid ducks are seemingly alot more "common" than other types of avian hybrids... on the whole, hybirds are a rare thing so I would imagine by the use of common, they mean common in terms of occurrence of hybridization.

I know what I mean anyway.