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ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

What is Domestic Mallard and is this one? (1 Viewer)

Yes this would be regarded by many as a domestic mallard, birds that look like this are often referred to as 'bibbed' Mallards. In terms of the article mentioned above saying some wild birds can be bibbed, I really don't know how you would know they were pure wild birds. As a general rule if it looks like a Mallard but doesn't look like a Mallard it's a Mallard with some domestic influence.
 
Hello
better wait for Jörn and others, but the second one is a male Mallard imo

It isnt an intersex bird imo by both these features together
  • pure yellow bill without any darkish area and/or orangey patch
  • entire glossy green head without any "hybrid-lookalike" or Gadwall-hybrid remisiscent pattern, like this
    https://flic.kr/p/5Xk5WN
    ( I hope thats understandable), and even an indication of it.
Apart from the unusal date (assuming it was taken tody like your first bird), it looks like an eclipse male Mallard with some moult issues.
Or is the extensive and contrasting blueish-violet sheen to the rear head a feature of domistic ancestry? I have seen that in appearantly "pure"wild type Mallards before.
But as said better wait for others. Thanks from me too
 
Yep! Both of these where taken today in Colorado.
Alexander Stöhr said:
  • pure yellow bill without any darkish area and/or orangey patch
  • entire glossy green head without any "hybrid-lookalike" or Gadwall-hybrid remisiscent pattern, like this
    https://flic.kr/p/5Xk5WN
    (
Click to expand...
Ohhhh I’ve seen a bird like this once. But I never had my camera with me when I saw it
etudiant said:
Mallards will mate with anything, even other defunct males. How Gay Dead Duck Sex Was Discovered
So do not be surprised to see mixed parentage ducks, just because they don't fit our schemes does not make them unnatural.
Here in NYC, we have a couple of Wood Duck drakes closely engaged with female Mallards, so it goes both ways.
Have not seen any off springs as yet, but am hopefu.l
Click to expand...
I remember hearing about the gay dead duck a while back.
 
Second photo looks like a quite normal wild mallard, with a little bit of molt on the crown of the head. Bluish sheen on the back of the head is just a question of angle.
 
I´d say the one in this second link has Mallard and American Black duck genes ! though it is possibly not a first generation (F1) cross...

compare with these which also have Mallard and American black duck ancestry. Mallard and American Black duck are very closely related. Hybrids are fully fertile , can backcross with eitehr parent species or with other hybrids. Therefore variability is extremely high as shown in the following examples:








birdhybrids.blogspot.com

American Black Duck x Mallard

American Black Duck x Mallard hybrid, Ottawa River, Ottawa (Ontario, Canada), 7th April 2016 - copyright Gordon Johnston (photo ID: 278...
birdhybrids.blogspot.com birdhybrids.blogspot.com

Head can be fully green to not green at all, body plumage can also go from more mallard like to more American black duck like...

And some plumages are difficult to separate from moulting Mallards
 
Actually the bird you linked, Alexander, is also Mallard x American Black duck in my opinion.
https://flic.kr/p/5Xk5WN

I had tried to send a second comment to the photographer , but she seems to have turned the commenting function off after my first comment:

My second comment- to read after her comments in the link , was along the following lines :

"Yes , but Mallard x American Black duck hybrids share many traits with intersex mallards because male Black ducks have a female like plumage.

And the all yellow bill is atypical for an Intersex Mallard , but OK for a male hybrid Mallard x American Black duck ..

Compare :
Intersex Mallards:



Mallard x American Black duck males :



Therefore, from that one photo, I have to think your bird is a hybrid rather than an intersex plumaged mallard. "
 
Hello,
Thanks for correction and the detailed comment, Jörn!

I can't read the comments under the Flickr picture on my tablet, so I missed your ID.
I must admit, I would have identified the second bird in post 4 as an exceptional late moulting male Mallard with confidence. So thanks for your comment again!
 
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