possible mallard/Black duck hybrid
Posted: Apr 15 12:37 pm
by BillGyles
Could someone please tell me if this is a mallard/black duck hybrid. Seen at Buttertubs, Nanaimo about a week ago. Feathers are darker than other female mallards I have seen and many feather margins are white.
P1000536 by
Bill Gyles, on Flickr
P1000537 by
Bill Gyles, on Flickr
Re: possible mallard/Black duck hybrid
Posted: Apr 18 8:16 am
by BirdingBC
Hi Bill,
Not easy to make a determination. I am leaning towards just a darker female mallard but there is some doubt. Might be a hybrid. I am unsure as I think we need more photos including when this bird is beside a regular female mallard. The field mark differences are subtle and it takes a keen eye and a lot of knowledge to pick up on them.
Hybrid females are more difficult but can be picked out by looking through female Mallards and finding a darker individual and then looking for other characteristics that don’t match either Mallards or American Black Ducks exactly, like the speculum having some white but not as much as a Mallard would.
https://www.10000birds.com/hybrid-mallards.htm
Thanks for sharing,
Re: possible mallard/Black duck hybrid
Posted: Apr 18 8:49 pm
by BillGyles
Thanks very much. It was on the other side of the lake from the mallards when I took the photo, but I will try and get a group shot.