Thoughts please Is this a hybrid? Otago Harbour

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Jim Kirker
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Re: Thoughts please Is this a hybrid? Otago Harbour

Postby Jim Kirker » Tue Jun 26, 2018 7:11 pm

This looks like a mallard hybrid at Waiatarua reserve last year.
viewtopic.php?f=3&t=6415&p=31752&hilit=kirker+waiatarua#p31752
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David Riddell
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Re: Thoughts please Is this a hybrid? Otago Harbour

Postby David Riddell » Wed Jun 27, 2018 8:47 am

Don't know much about domestic duck varieties, but this looks like a Duclair duck. Apparently derived from the Rouen duck, which is in turn an old domestic variety of mallard.
https://www.roysfarm.com/duclair-duck/
David Melville
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Re: Thoughts please Is this a hybrid? Otago Harbour

Postby David Melville » Wed Jun 27, 2018 9:47 am

As with so many topics, this becomes increasingly interesting, yet more confusing as time goes by. My reaction on seeing the picture was 'Cayuga Mallard' - based on early childhood studies of Peter Scott's 'A coloured key to waterfowl of the world', which includes a drawing of a bird very like the Otago Harbour one. However there is a photo at NZ Birds Online showing a Cayuga Mallard without a white breast: http://nzbirdsonline.org.nz/species/mallard

The origin of the 'Cayuga Duck' is also murky with some suggesting that it is a variant of the American Black Duck: https://livestockconservancy.org/images ... EVISED.pdf

I had not previously heard of a Duclair duck - but it appears that this descriptive of a colour form rather than a 'species' as it has also been used to describe a form of Muscovy Duck: http://www.ringneckdove.com/Homology%20 ... utants.pdf

And finally, not related to the Norwegian Blue (a form of parrot - for younger readers) , comes the Swedish Blue - http://domestic-waterfowl.co.uk/swedish.html

Take your pick!

David
Wandoona
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Re: Thoughts please Is this a hybrid? Otago Harbour

Postby Wandoona » Thu Jun 28, 2018 7:34 am

Sure is interesting since it was with another manky mallard and other mallards. Since it’s still a mallard then I guess it has a gene expression of forgotten duclair pattern.
Raewyn
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Re: Thoughts please Is this a hybrid? Otago Harbour

Postby Raewyn » Sun Jul 01, 2018 9:40 pm

My understanding is that a purebred Cayuga is always all black with a green sheen. On the other hand, a duck out in the wild will probably be crossbred and the dark/black colour pattern with white bib is pretty common in ferals. The white bib is an independent gene, so it could be a Cayuga crossed with something carrying the white bib gene. It does look similar to the photo of the Duclair duck, but that seems to have a lighter coloured body, and I'm not aware of it being present in NZ. My guess is Cayuga ancestry with a white bib.

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