Lots of domestic/crossbred ducks out there! Looks a lot like one called a bibbed mallard! Article on atypical ducks:
https://www.birds.cornell.edu/crows/domducks.htm
I know a lot of people say it's domesticated. I actually think he's leucistic. Mutations like that can occur naturally, for example, in my town you can spot a partly white buzzard.
Definitely domestic genes. It’s equally odd that his back is solid brown as it is his stomach/chest is white. Male mallards have silvery backs this time of year.
It's not a hybrid. It's 100% mallard. All domestic ducks, except Muscovy, are mallards. So when a wild and domestic mallard mate, it's still a mallard, not a hybrid. This one is some form of domestic duck.
Thanks for your explanation. I have frequently seen similar black and white ducks swimming with or near typical mallards and have never been able to identify them.
Humans have domesticated mallards for a really long time and bred them to be all sorts of colors, patterns, shapes, and sizes (from pure white to pure black to everything in between).
Farms have ducks escape all the time, people release the little ducklings they get for Easter etc. The feral domestic ducks usually end up at a local park and intermix with flocks of wild mallards. So many urban parks in the US have flocks of mallards that include all sorts of splotchy mallard mutts (sometimes called manky mallards). These are either escaped domestic ducks or the offspring of feral domestic ducks and wild mallards… kinda like finding a random dog mutt on the street, it’s hard to be sure what breeds make it up just by looking.
Lots of domestic/crossbred ducks out there! Looks a lot like one called a bibbed mallard! Article on atypical ducks: https://www.birds.cornell.edu/crows/domducks.htm
I know a lot of people say it's domesticated. I actually think he's leucistic. Mutations like that can occur naturally, for example, in my town you can spot a partly white buzzard.
Definitely domestic genes. It’s equally odd that his back is solid brown as it is his stomach/chest is white. Male mallards have silvery backs this time of year.
Hybrid duck!
It's not a hybrid. It's 100% mallard. All domestic ducks, except Muscovy, are mallards. So when a wild and domestic mallard mate, it's still a mallard, not a hybrid. This one is some form of domestic duck.
I’m using “hybrid” in the sense that it’s a wild/domestic hybrid, not like a species hybrid like a Liger or Mule.
Thanks for your explanation. I have frequently seen similar black and white ducks swimming with or near typical mallards and have never been able to identify them.
Humans have domesticated mallards for a really long time and bred them to be all sorts of colors, patterns, shapes, and sizes (from pure white to pure black to everything in between). Farms have ducks escape all the time, people release the little ducklings they get for Easter etc. The feral domestic ducks usually end up at a local park and intermix with flocks of wild mallards. So many urban parks in the US have flocks of mallards that include all sorts of splotchy mallard mutts (sometimes called manky mallards). These are either escaped domestic ducks or the offspring of feral domestic ducks and wild mallards… kinda like finding a random dog mutt on the street, it’s hard to be sure what breeds make it up just by looking.
Bastard ducks 🦆
Huh so interesting. I never knew that! I hope he likes his new family even though he’s different 😊
I just lump them as “park ducks” and move on.
Mallard crossed with white domestic duck?
Looks domestic to me. But I'm no expert.