(This page is updated regularly: last update - images and new identifications added - Feb 2010)

I spend a fair bit of time surfing and flicking through various Bird Fora/Forums, and it’s striking how many queries there are from birders all over the world who’ve been completely stumped by finding an odd duck on their local pond or marsh that doesn’t seem to resemble anything in their bird books.

We’ve all been there, no doubt. One day we’re happily identifying our local wildfowl, when all of a sudden we’re confronted with an alarmingly-coloured oddity that looks vaguely familiar but still - despite the nagging doubts that your more rational self insists on sending - sets those adrenalin-fuelled ‘RARITY’ alarm-bells a-ringing. On almost every occasion though the nagging doubts were right and your new life-bird will (sadly) turn out to be some sort of Mallard with its genetic make-up so mixed that it would take a team of nimble-fingered scientists months to make sense of it.

In the interests in providing a public service (so typical of us generous souls here at 10000 Birds) I’m posting a gallery of what I rather disrespectfully callied “Manky Mallards” some years ago (a term that I’m surprised to find seems to have really taken off - google ‘manky mallard’ if you don’t believe me!) so that hopefully on the next occasion I (or anyone else for that matter) gets asked to identify an odd duck that clearly doesn’t fit the image in any available field-guide I can point the luckless finder in the right direction (which is towards this page, of course)…

By the way, I do get around the world a fair bit but there’s no way I can visit every pond that has one of these oddities “gracing” it (these are very widespread birds as the captions below the photos testify), so I’m asking/inviting anyone with photos of ‘mallard mongrels’ or ‘domestic duck disgraces’ - which is a little unfair really, as Nature sometimes feeds the genes into her great mixer and something quite beautiful pops out the other end - to mail them to me and I’ll add them to the page (with any and all links and credits you’d like of course). Don’t worry about file size too much, but if you could get it below 1000kb that would help…

Wild Mallards - perfectly beautiful…

Mallards Anas platyryhnchos, literally meaning ‘flat-billed duck’ and derived from the Greek words platys meaning “broad or flat,” and rhynchos meaning “beak” (which is pretty uninspired as most ducks except scoters Melanitta and sawbills Mergus have beaks that are essentially flat), are familiar, widespread and very common: they’re so ‘everyday’ in fact that I would guess most of us birders hardly bother to look at them anymore…

They are though beautifully and intricately plumaged, and when winter sunlight hits the male’s irridescent green head feathers Mallards really do become quite spectacular-looking birds. One of the most evocative descriptions of them comes from Audubon (www.abirdshome.com/Audubon/VolVI/00649.html), who wrote:

“Now another is before you, on the margin of that purling streamlet. How brisk are all his motions compared with those of his brethren that waddle across your poultry-yard! how much more graceful in form and neat in apparel! The Duck at home is the descendant of a race of slaves, and has lost his native spirit: his wings have been so little used that they can hardly raise him from the ground. But the free-born, the untamed Duck of the swamps,–see how he springs on wing, and hies away over the woods.”

Oh, yes, the man could turn a phrase!

Anway, just to remind ourselves what we’re dealing with here are some photos of “pure” or wild Mallards taken in the typically urban locations where most of us see - or more likely ignore - them:

Drake Mallard - New York March 2004 - a perfect bird. Photos © Charlie Moores

Duck Mallard - Vancouver, February 2006 - perfect again. Photos © Charlie Moores

Duck Mallard - New York March 2004 - (and again) perfect. Photo © Charlie Moores

Domestic breeds, or wild Mallards crossed with “domestic birds”:

Domestic Mallard breeds - ie Mallards selectively bred with other Mallards and kept by man for eg food - are not illustrated in any field guide I’ve ever looked in (someone should get round to them at some point - how about it Mr Sibley?), and birders often seem to forget that domestic breeds exist and have bred - perhaps either after escaping or being deliberately released - with wild birds for many, many years. No longer confined to collections, farms or village ponds, the resulting birds are free-flying (most true ‘domestic ducks’ in sensu stricto don’t fly), are often large and aggressive, and are paddling about on ponds and lakes all over the world.

A wild, pure drake Mallard (rear) and “Not Quite Pure” drake Mallard - Chew Valley, UK.
Photo © Charlie Moores

 

A ‘Manky Mallard’: large, ungainly, and just not right - North Yorkshire, UK.
Photo © ‘Nivrip’

 

‘Maynard’ (as this individual is affectionately known): large, ungainly, and really not
right at all…but lovely in a strange way!
Arizona, USA, May 2009. Photos © Shane Manning

 

Three very mixed “domestic Mallards” - southern California, 2003.
Photo © Mike Bergin

 

A “manky” group of “domestic Mallards” - Bangalore, India, 2007.
Photo © Charlie Moores

 

Three cloned “domestic Mallards” - Radipole Lake, Dorset, UK, October 2009.
Photo © Charlie Moores

 

A somewhat similar group as above - some 600 miles to the north!
Isle Of Lewis (Western Isles of Scotland), October 2009. Photo © Sue Loveridge

 

Manky Mallards (and a rather embarrassed Muscovy Duck
trying to sneak out of the photo). Tel Aviv, Israel. Sept 2007.

 

A “manky” group of “domestic Mallards” dressed up for a night out? - Westport, CT, 2008.
Photo © Ann Blystone (read the post this photo came from at The Tombstone Chronicler)

These “odd” ducks definitely do create many identification problems (even experienced birders get thrown sometimes, as I’m not ashamed to admit), but many drakes (ie males) in particular have an obvious Mallard “heritage”. Some - though by no means ALL - have the green-yellow bills typical of their wild and distant ancestors, for example, and some also retain the curly black uppertail covert feathers (the little ‘curls’ near the tail) diagnostic of the species as well (as in the photos below).

Male feral Mallard - central Tennessee, March 2007. Photo © Alice (10,000 Monkeys and a Camera)

 

Male feral Mallards - California, Feb 2007. Photo © Jack Cole

 

Feral Mallard - New York, April 2007. Photo © Charlie Moores

Another very important field character to look out for is the colour of the speculum, the bright patch of feathers in the wing that ducks use to identify each other with in flight and which many species use in courtship. Each species has a diagnostically coloured speculum, and the pattern and colours don’t vary between individuals to any noticeable extent. If your bird has a speculum like the one in the photo below then it’s a Mallard no matter what the rest of it looks like…

So, with a little care and thought, it is possible to quickly identify many ‘odd’ ducks. Some ‘manky mallards’ are just downright peculiar though and seem to have no plumage features that link them back to wild Mallards at all. If you do happen to find a strangely plumaged duck that defies initial identification there are three more things worth bearing in mind:

• An ‘odd’, unrecognisable duck swimming around an urban pond with ‘wild’ Mallards, waddling around on the grass in a park, or coming to take bread from your toddler’s outstretched hand, is very unlikely to be a vagrant species or a rarity - it’s most probably a domestic duck, ie a “Manky Mallard”.
• If you find a duck that is “Mallard-like” but seems too large or proportionately ‘not quite right’ it is probably - again - a domestic Mallard: many domestic breeds were developed for eating, and have been selected over generations to be larger, heavier, and ‘more meaty’ than wild Mallards.
• If your duck looks very like a Mallard but is ‘too pale’ and/or has large patches of white (ie is leucistic), it’s also likely to be a “domestic”, or a wild x domestic, Mallard - particularly if those patches are asymmetric or appear randomly scattered, as is the case with the birds in the photos below (though wild birds can be leucistic too of course).

Too tame to be a wild rarity? Yes, it’s a (rather lovely) ‘manky’
Trenchford Rerservoir, Hennock, S Devon. Sept 09.

 

Feral Mallards - Isle of Wight, UK, June 2007. Photo © Vectis Birder

Female domestic Mallard - California, Feb 2007. Photo © Jack Cole

Interestingly a “Manky Mallard” can have typically-coloured offspring
Wiltshire, UK, July 2008. Photo © Charlie Moores

Wild duck species can show white feathers of course because of varying degrees of gene mutation, but they will still have the shape and habits of the wild species, and are usually recognisable as such on a second look.

All-white breeds of domestic duck - often with large, all-orange beaks - are common, and are usually derived from the well-known “Aylesbury” or the “Pekin Duck” - the breed commonly kept, for instance, across Asia for eating.

Two “domestic Mallards” - Mokpo, South Korea, December 2008. Photo © Andreas Kim

Two “domestic Mallards” with American Wigeons - California, November 2006. Photo © Jack Cole

Two “domestic Mallards” - California, Feb 2007. Photo © Jack Cole

An interesting variation (referred to above) is caused by a genetic defect resulting in faulty pigmentation in the skin and/or feathers - ‘leucism’. A leucistic bird is one therefore where the normal plumage colour is either diluted or partially lost in ‘white patches’. (Many birders, myself included, use the term ‘partial albino’ to describe birds with white patches, but - scientifically speaking - a bird is either albino (ie has no colour whatsoever) or leucistic - there’s not technically a partial ‘in-between’ state. This is because ‘albino’ refers only to animals with two recessive genes and, therefore, no pigment anywhere: anything with some normal colour doesn’t have both recessive genes, and therefore lie on what seems to be a ‘leucism spectrum’.)

One problem identifying leucistic birds in the field is that many breeders have produced “apricot” types which seem to result in ducks which by any other name might be called ‘leucistic’. Is the bird below a wild ‘leucistic’ Mallard, or a domestic ‘manky’ which has been bred to look like this?

Female leucistic (?) Mallard - Riefel Bird Sanctuary, nr Vancouver, Oct 2008.
Photo © Karl Pollak

The bird above, if it’s wild and not the result of deliberate breeding, would be a ‘diluted’ type.

One of the most striking putative leucistic ‘mankys’ I’ve ever seen is the one below which was found by Renee R in Minneapolis. It’s impossible (for me anyway) to say definitely whether it’s a leucistic individual where all the pigment cells that produce brown are faulty or a more random result of domestic Mallards breeding, but whatever the reason this is a gorgeous one-off!

Leucistic (?) Mallard - Richfield, MN, USA.
Photo © Renee R.

Here’s a similar-looking but less ‘pure’ (for want of a better term) female found two years later and some 4,000 miles north…

Okanagan Valley, Canada, Dec 2009. Photo © Thor Manson

A further complication in the “what duck is that?” problem comes in the form of a small, round-headed breed known as a “Call Duck”. In German, the Call Duck is known by the title ‘zwerg’, meaning ‘dwarf’, and the Dutch also consider it to be a dwarf form. Dutch Call ducks were being bred in Britain by the 1850s, and there are now a number of “standard” plumage forms - including the White, Grey, Apricot, Blue Fawn, Magpie, and Bibbed - though all are short, compact ducks with notably stubby bills.

Originally known as Coy ducks or decoy ducks (from the Dutch word de kooi meaning ‘trap’) call ducks may have originated in the Far East and were once widely used to catch wildfowl at wetland sites. The tame “call” ducks were fed at the entrance to wickerwork decoys constructed in the form of a ‘pipe’ and wild birds were enticed down by the quacking (’calling’) of the tame birds, then caught and slaughtered for the commercial market. (For more information on these strange little breeds have a look at the interesting website of the Call Duck Association UK.)

Male “Bibbed” Call Duck - Mass, USA.
Photo © Andy Wilson (visit Andy’s blog at Thru Andy’s Lens)

Female “Apricot-type” Call Duck - Jarrow, UK.
Photo © “Pig Sty Avenue” (visit PSA’s blog at Pig Sty Avenue’)

One last element in the whole Mallard-ID conundrum comes around every year in mid- to late-summer. Not content with being difficult to ID under normal circumstances, our “manky mallards” - like their wild counterparts - make matters a whole lot harder by dropping their flight feathers and moulting. Colours disappear, plumage features are sloughed off and left floating in the shallows, and our peculiar but just recognisable duck turns into something that resembles the avian equivalent of a pile of clothes left in the corner of a bedroom (somewhere in there are your favourite jeans, but where do you start looking, and wouldn’t it be easier just to find a smart, clean pair in your wardrobe?).

There are far too many variations of “moulting manky” for this page to deal with - even us obsessives have lives we want to get on with - but as a demonstration that shows just how tatty a moulting duck can look how about this Mallard I photographed near Tokyo in July 2007…

Moulting “manky” Mallard. Narita, Chiba, Japan. July 2007
Photo © Charlie Moores

‘Manky’ Mallards - the photos:

Surprisingly - at least in some cases - the following photos (many of which have been sent in by 10,000 Birds readers) are all of birds that are genetically 100% Mallard (and are therefore not Mallard hybrids - which are Mallards crossed with another duck species).

Many of them don’t much resemble what most of us tend to think of as Mallards at all, but that’s what they all are (at least in the same way that a dalmatian and a spaniel have the same ancestor and are both ‘dogs’). A number of highly recognisable, standardised breeds have been selectively and carefully developed over the years - including Aylesburys, Indian Runners, Rouens, and Swedish etc - and it’s the genes for these breeds that the birds below will contain.

Many Mallards also contain the gene for ‘crests’ - which make the ducks look like unlikely crosses with a poodle: the gene which produces the crest (and which apparently causes a deformity of the skull) has the side-effect of preventing about 25% of fertile eggs from hatching, and of those that do hatch an additional 25% of a clutch of eggs do not hatch with the crest.

Whilst most - if not all - of these birds could be the equivalent of putting bits of mallard DNA in a cocktail shaker and seeing what results I’ve done my best to point towards the heritages of these birds using the excellent online breakdown of the breeds of domestic Mallards at two very useful websites - www.feathersite.com and at www.omlet.co.uk - but I’ve a feeling this is a bit like claiming I understand Egyptian hieroglyphics because I’ve watched a couple of Indiana Jones movies, so feel free to mail in and correct me whenever you feel like it…

Finally, there could be some genetically ‘pure’ birds on this page - ie pure in the sense that they only have the genes that define one particular breed - but these ‘pure’ birds tend to be in collections or are privately held, and many of the feral ducks that birders stumble across in the wild are generations removed from the ’standard-type’ making certain identification all but impossible (hence my use of the modifier “-type” in the captions accompanying the photos).

‘White and Fawn’ Indian Runner - Reno, Nevada. 2008. Originally bred in the East Indies, this ‘extreme’ mallard form was first imported into Europe nearly two hundred years ago.
Photo © Fredric F. Petersen (http://www.flickr.com/photos/fugl/)

 

Khaki-coloured “Campbell”-type - UK, March 2006. Photo © Charlie Moores

 

Possibly an “Orpington”- or “Buff”-type - California, October 2006. Photo © Jack Cole

 

This looks to be a drake Saxony, a German breed known in the US as a “Golden Cascade” -
Whitewebbs Park, Enfield, UK, Feb 2009. Photo © Angus Murray

 

Another drake that looks to be a Saxony - Fort Madison, Iowa, Jan 2010.
Photo © Tim Lester

 

Another drake Saxony with the genes for a “Crest” - California, August 2008.
Photo © Bill Wells

 

Another Saxony (perhaps crossed with a domestic Mallard?) - Sydney Botanic Gardens,
Australia, August 2009. Photo © Charlie Moores

 

A pale Saxony with unusual head markings, so again perhaps crossed with a domestic Mallard? - Legg Lake, El Monte, California, December 2009. Photo © Joe Singleton

 

“Saxony”-type - Dorset, UK, February 2007. Photo © Martin Cade/Portland Bird Obs.

This female Saxony looks to be of the blau-gelb variety (with thanks to Christine Ashton of www.ashtonwaterfowl.net for the updated info)

 

A ’silver’ “Swedish”-type - California, October 2006. Photo © Jack Cole

 

Another ’silver’ “Swedish”-type? - Boca Raton, FL, March 2009.
Photo © Maureen Leong-Kee

 

A ’silver’ “Swedish”-type? NB this head pattern is also seen in a similarly-plumaged ‘manky’ below.
Lea Valley Regional Park, Hertfordshire, England. Jan 2009. Photo © Angus Murray

 

Two “Blue Swedish”-type - California, Feb 2007. Photo © Jack Cole

 

Two “Blue Swedish”-type: note large size compared with female in foreground.
North Yorkshire, UK, April 2009. Photo © ‘Nivrip’

 

“Swedish”-type with the gene for a“Crest” - UK, March 2006. Photo © Charlie Moores

 

“Swedish”-type x “Crested duck”-type - Los Angeles, June 2008. Photos © Mike Bergin

 

“Swedish”-type with the gene for a “Crest” - Plant City, Florida, Jan 2008. Photo © Leslie Doepke

 

A “Crested Pekin”-type (centre, with Pekins) - Council Bluffs, Iowa, September 2007.
Photo © Blake Hudson

 

Possibly some Swedish genes? - UK, November 2007. Photo © Charlie Moores

 

A similar bird to the one above - UK, June 2008. Photo © Charlie Moores

 

A “Bibbed”-type - Boulder County, Colorado, September 2006.
Photo © Bill Schmoker (schmoker.org/BirdPics/DomWaterfowl)

 

A “Bibbed”-type - Dublin, Ireland, May 2009.
Photo © John Murphy (www.flickr.com/photos/jcmurphy)

 

A “Bibbed”-type - New Hampshire, February 2009.
Photo © Paul Merritt (www.Airedale1Photography.com)

 

A “Bibbed”-type - Lake Erie, USA, May 2007.
Photo © Adam Eibling

 

A “Bibbed”-type - Berlin, Germany, Feb 2010. Photo © Bernhard Walker

 

Two “Bibbed”-types - Kettering Ohio, March 2009.
Photo © Judy Ashford

 

“Bibbed”-types with rather smart white primaries - West Yorkshire, UK, April 2007.
Photo © David Leedham (Leedham.com)

 

“Bibbed Crested duck”-type - Devon, UK, November 2006. Photo © Lesley Dalladay

 

A possible “Duclair’s”-type (front) and a ‘manky’ Mallard - Cheonggyecheon, Seoul, South Korea.
Photo © Mark Brown

 

A rather lovely drake that is possibly the result of a Mallard surprising a Black-billed Magpie Pica pica one dark afternoon? Much more likely is the influence of the Cayuga breed ). Hamburg, February 2007. Photo © Christa Eickert

 

Possibly two “Appleyard”-types (but considerably diluted I would think) - Chew Valley, UK.
Photo © Charlie Moores

 

A wild Mallard (left), a likely “Duclair’s”-type (centre), and a ‘manky’ Mallard (right) - Germany.
Photo © Jochen Roeder

 

I must admit I have no idea whatsoever is going on with these two birds - part of a brood that looks like the highly unlikely (given the location) pairing of a Mallard and a Common Eider.
Isle of Wight, UK, April 2009. Photos © Tina Grant

 

Most likely a diluted form of “Black East Indian” -type - California, October 2006. Photo © Jack Cole

 

A fairly pure “Cayuga”-type - Eugene, Oregon, December 2008. Photos © Will Gannett

 

Perhaps a diluted form of “Black East Indian” -type - though the mottling (which could just be leucism) perhaps suggests some Cayuga influence?
New York, May 2007. Photo © Corey Finger

 

Similar to the bird above but 8000 miles to the west. California. Nov 2009.
Photo © Jack Cole

 

This follows the pattern of a Cayuga (black bill, mottled plumage) but is obviously not a pure breed
Chew Valley, UK. Nov 2007. Photo © Charlie Moores

 

Perhaps this chunky mottled mess of a Mallard has some ‘black East Indies’ genes in its background…’strewth, mate’, as my Aussie mates might say
Centennial Park, Sydney, Australia. Jan 2009. Photo © Charlie Moores

A common pitfall - the Mucovy Duck:

Not related to Mallards in any way, but few ducks seem to get new-ish birders reaching for their field guides quicker than the Muscovy Duck Cairina moschata so they earn their place on this page of anatid oddities. An unlikely-looking collection of red warts and tatty greenish-glossed feathers, the domestic form/s of what is actually quite a striking species turns up all over the planet sowing confusion and head-scratching wherever it arrives. Native to Mexico, Muscovys (also known in aviculturalist circles as the Barbary Duck) are large and pretty much fearless and readily hybridise with other ducks. Note in the images below the increasing amount of white: domestic birds are incredibly variable, and there’s really no such thing as a “typical” domestic Muscovy Duck.

Domestic Muscovy Duck - Reno, Nevada, 2008.
Photo © Fredric F. Petersen http://www.flickr.com/photos/fugl/

 

Domestic Muscovy Duck - Maine, July 2008.
Photo © Tammy Allen

 

Domestic Muscovy Duck - Panama, April 2009.
Photo © Charlie Moores

 

Domestic Muscovy Duck - Seekonk, MA , March 2007.
Photo © Christine Hochkeppel

 

“Curly-haired” domestic Muscovy Duck - UK, June 2008.
Photo © Charlie Moores

 

Domestic Muscovy Duck - California, Nov 2009.
Photo © Jack Cole

 

White domestic Muscovy Duck (or perhaps Muscovy x Pekin Duck hybrid) - Bronx, NY , August 2007.
Photo © Stephanie Clarke

NB: If you can’t find a photo that looks like your “odd” Mallard here, why not try the page of hybrid Mallard photos which are at Hybrid Mallards?

This post has very much become a group effort over the years, so thanks very much to the following for permission to use their photographs on this page and/or on our Mallard hybrids page:

• Tammy Allen
• ‘Alice’: Visit Alice’s blog at 10,000 Monkeys and a Camera
• Judy Ashford
• Mike Bergin
• Ann Blystone: Visit Ann’s blog at The Tombstone Chronicler
• Mark Brown
• Martin Cade: Warden of Portland Bird Observatory.
• Stephanie Clarke
• Bruce and Joanne Clayton. Visit Bruce and Joanne’s website at Butterfly on My Shoulder Photography.
• Joe Cockram: Visit Joe’s blog at www.joesbirding.blogspot.com.
• Jack Cole: No website, no blog - just a very good friend of mine
• Lesley Dalladay
• Leslie Doepke
• Adam Eibling
• Christa Eickert
• Corey Finger
• Tina Grant
• Jyri Heino: Excellent Finnish photographer with many images on Tarsiger.com
• Christine Hochkeppel
• Blake and Dan Hudson
• Andreas Kim: Wildlife and general photographs from Korea -Andreas Kim’s Photography
• David Leedham: Visit Leedham.com
• Tim Lester: visit Tim Lester Images
• Maureen Leong-Kee
• Joern Lehmhus
• Paul Merritt, www.Airedale1Photography.com
• John Murphy, (www.flickr.com/photos/jcmurphy)
• Angus Murray
• ‘Nivrip’
• Fredric F. Petersen www.flickr.com/photos/fugl/
• Karl Pollak
• “Pig Sty Avenue”: Visit PSA’s blog at Pig Sty Avenue
• Jochen Roeder
• Bill Schmoker: Excellent wildlife photographs, including some other hybrid species - http://www.schmoker.org
• Joe Singleton
• Bob Steele: Professional bird photographer - Bob Steele Photography
• ‘Vectis Birder’: Visit the Vectis Birder blog.
• Andy Wilson: Visit Andy’s blog at Thru Andy’s Lens

Also check out these “manky mallard” or mallard hybrid pages:

• www.ashtonwaterfowl.net
• Patrick Hahener: Photographs of water fowl hybrids
• Kevin McGowan: Confusing Domestic Ducks
• Harry Lehto: Mallards - Copenhagen
• LiveDucks.com/breeds

Do you have any photos of unusual ‘Mallard-type’ ducks you’d be kind enough to let me post?

Please email them to charlie10000birds - AT - gmail.com saying where and when they were taken and any links/credits etc you’d like. I can take large file sizes, but if you could please re-size them down to 600px width that would be very helpful. Many thanks.