ID this duck, hybrid?
 

check out the speckled feet, the white throat patch, the totally bronze underside, any ideas? i've heard some say it might be a shoveler/mallard drake hybrid.

http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o108/pacoruddyduck/100_0097.jpg

http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o108/pacoruddyduck/100_0096.jpg

http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o108/pacoruddyduck/100_0102.jpg

http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o108/pacoruddyduck/100_0101.jpg

http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o108/pacoruddyduck/100_0100.jpg

http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o108/pacoruddyduck/100_0099.jpg

RE: ID this duck, hybrid?
 

Looks like a really old mallard hen. I've heard once they get a certain age they start taking on male colors. I could be wrong though.

RE: ID this duck, hybrid?
 

Not sure , but it would go on my wall

Johnch

RE: ID this duck, hybrid?
 

i'm planning on getting him mounted, fully cupped and locked up, head upright. like this link

http://www.waterfowler.net/Artistic/images/2005/Cupped_Mallard_sm.jpg

RE: ID this duck, hybrid?
 

Thats pretty strange. I don't think its a hybrid. I think its 100% mallard. But, sort of like you see white labs, yellow labs, and red labs, I think this bird probably has some sort of disorder or mutation that has effected his pigmentation. The beak is mallard drake (full plume) so is the head.

The real kicker is the speculum on the wing. It should be blue and white in full plumage, but it looks more like the wing of a ringneck hen. I think he has the measles or something like that.

RE: ID this duck, hybrid?
 

I think I can enlighten you guys again. I have seen many of this type of mallard hybrid and have them show up every once in a while. It is a mallard crossed with a Black East Indies duck. The black east Indies is a tame sport if you will. It is a totally melanistic mutation of a common mallard that breeds true to color . When bred back to a pure mallard they usually are blackwith white splotches on neck and throat. If you cross the first offspring back to a mallard again then you get the green head on the drake with rusty brown sides and belly. The Black East Indies is a tame duck that is bred for show or novelty.

RE: ID this duck, hybrid?
 

I agree I beleive the Duck you are speaking of is called an Indian Runner.

RE: ID this duck, hybrid?
 

wow cool, I'd definately mount it. I think it is a shoveler/mallard hybrid too.

RE: ID this duck, hybrid?
 

Thats why you are here sir. Keep everyone guessing, then let us know how it really is! So this is one of those barnyard breeders?

RE: ID this duck, hybrid?
 

If it is a duck that is a hybrid desendantof a black east indies duck, would you then not get it mounted? I shot this duck on public ground, it came in with 2 other mallards, a drake and hen pair with normal colors, I shot this one because of it's unique plumage. How could you know for sure what this duck is crossed with, is thier no way that it could be any other hybrid combination?This duck was thinin body size the exact same asany other mallard duck I have taken, not fat like a duck that has been waddling around a farm eating handout corn all summer, like a domestic "barnyard duck".

It was a really neat experience shooting this duck, public ground, windy, drizzling morning, this duck with the other 2 he was with circled twice, came right back to my calling, I shot him perfect with one shot at about 30 yards, I was really looking forward to getting this bird mounted, would any of you still take him to the taxidermist?

RE: ID this duck, hybrid?
 

What you gotta realize here portable is that the only person who is going to see that duck if you decide to have him mounted is YOU. So if the experience was memorable, and you enjoy the memory, by all means it yours to cherish.

I have a young of the year hen bluebill going on the wall as a dead mount right now because its the first duck my young swamp collie pup brought in. I got a great picture of him holding it, sun in his eyes, wet and happy that will go right along with the mount. Totally meaningless for anyone but me and Dutch, the way it should be.

RE: ID this duck, hybrid?
 

The Swamp Collie is correct. You shot it and if you think it should be put on the wall by all means do so. One reason that the duck was on the thin side may be that it did not have a pan of feed set before it at meal time every day. That may or may not be the reason for it being on the thin side but who cares. It is up to you to decide. I think all waterfowl are very interesting birds and that was why I have raised them for so long. As to the comment that one made that it might be an Indian Runner duck I wonder if he has ever seen a Runner or hybrids of them? The too have been bred from "sports" of the mallard clan. Most domestic ducks have been developed from these "sports" or mutations of the mallard.

RE: ID this duck, hybrid?
 

I took the duck to the taxidermist, this guy has been doing duck mounts and studying ducks for over 25 years, he said with the duck's speculum colors, the white throat patch and the tail feathers, he thought the duck was a mallard/pintail hybrid.

RE: ID this duck, hybrid?
 

When are you getting the mount back?

RE: ID this duck, hybrid?
 

It's definitely not a shoveler or a pintail hybrid. Both pintails and shoveler's have white belliesand there is no sign of the typical mallard light grey or a white pintail or shoveler white belly. The speculum and the bill would also take characteristics of either a mallard, pintail, or shoveler, and it has none. It definitely does have several characteristics of a tame/farm duck. I have seen several mallard/pintail hybrids and this hold none of what you see with them. Still a cool looking duck, just not a hybrid of a mallard and a wild duck. It is pretty common to see ducks that look like that around farms or places where there are tame ducks.

RE: ID this duck, hybrid?
 

Should get the mount back by late May, I'll post more pics of it then.

RE: ID this duck, hybrid?
 

Well, I have heard just about everything on this duck.

Other long-time Duck hunters and a taxidermist that have seen it in person, and all of you on the internet that have seen it in pictures. I have come to the conclusion that everyone has an opinion and many of them are different, no one knows for sure and no one ever will know exactly what mixture breed of duck this is. Here are the facts, the duck was taken on public land, onarainy morningby myself. Icalled in the duck,he worked my decoy spread with 2 other mallards, a drake/hen pair for about 3 circles and passes, finally committed, cupped and began to land, I took this one because I saw the unique colorings.

I have looked at hundreds of duck pictures on the internet, all wild species, exoticsand city park domestics, I can't pin a label on this duck for anything. It has many different markings/traits and is hard to say this is an (X) duck, that I think is the greatest part about it, nobody knows for sure.

I think we all agree that it is of Mallard decent.

As for what mixture breed the duck is?

I have heard these responses the most in order of popularity,

1) Mallard / Northern Shoveler
2) Mallard / Pintail
3) Wild Mallard / Domestic Mallard Decent (Barnyard Breeder)
4) Mallard / East Indies Exotic Bred Duck
5) Mallard / Hooded Merganser
6) Old Mallard hen reverting back to male colors

My question to all of you, people are going to see this duck hangingfrom my ceilingand ask, what kind ofmallardis that, whatshould I tell them? I'll just pick one of the above, give my take on it and explain all the other possibilities, it will beagoodconversation piece, not to mention a beautiful bird to look at for years to come.

RE: ID this duck, hybrid?
 

i agree, who cares if it is mixed with a tame duck. this duck was obviously wild and unique which made it special to you. id mount it for sure. i just shot my first duck yesterday wood duck drake, nothing special but im mounting for sure.

RE: ID this duck, hybrid?
 

Not my current girlfriend, but the one before her was blonde, and like a blonde should be, she was dumb as a bag of rocks. We went to pick up a deer head at the taxidermist and he had in his collection a no-kidding shoulder mount of a Triceratops, scaled down to white-tail size. The girlfriend looked over at me and said, I wonder who shot that thing?

I would just let people think that it is whatever they want it to be. I would just look at them and shrug. I never told that girl about novelty taxidermy. I look forward to shooting a baboon in Africa this summer and having it made into a drink table, standing upright with his nose errect, monacle in place,in long-tails coat and tie, holding a drink tray. I am sure the dog will not fancy it, nor will the current girlfriend.

RE: ID this duck, hybrid?
 

Primate mounts always freak me out. I would just mount the baboon with the mouth open like it was attacking and hide it behind corners to scare people. That would be worth the money of stuffing one.

RE: ID this duck, hybrid?
 

All I can add is if you don't want to know what it is don't ask. I have told what I know after almost 50 years of on hand experience. If you would like to buy a female of this same cross let me know. I was going to butcher it anyway. I'm also sure there will be another accidental cross again as it is inevitable that when they start breeding in a month or so.

RE: ID this duck, hybrid?
 

I saw one in an acquaintences' house in tails, seated at the piano, fingers on the ivory. Have also see one as a cain/umbrella stand. Saw a picture online of one that was a TP roll holder.

Best one I have seen (at least until I get mine) was one that a good friend's friend has. There in his den is a baboon, in a Yankees jacket, with sunglasses, big gold necklace, black and mild tucked behind the ear. With one hand proped on the wall like Joe Cool and the other hand holding a liquor bottle in a brown paper sack. Upon closer inspection, you can see just a hint of his "grill" which includes, you guessed it, a gold tooth.