Muscovy Duck

General birdwatching discussion, help with bird identification, and all other things relating to wild birds and birding in NZ that don't fit in one of the other forums.
Grahame
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Muscovy Duck

Postby Grahame » Tue May 21, 2019 4:24 pm

Having seen three cases of Muscovy Duck on e bird recently, I thought the following might be of interest. I did not see the three birds concerned, so can pass no comment on their parentage.

I have twice seen one in Karangahake, two and three years ago, and I felt they were both of dubious parentage. They are notorious for hybridising in their native countries, in Costa Rica, of the eleven I saw, only two looked OK. A similar situation I found in Brazil and Guyana. About ten years ago, I took park in a survey of them in the Ely, Cambridgeshire area, and of the 50+ seen and photographed, the opinion was that none were pure, although two were close.

Cheers, Grahame
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RussCannings
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Re: Muscovy Duck

Postby RussCannings » Tue Jun 04, 2019 6:38 pm

By pure, do you mean mallard hybrids or white domestic types? Obviously if one parent was a non-musc or hybrid they all would be unpure?

Saw a few clean looking muscovy families in the gorge this summer. I find that pale blonde ducklings turn into white muscovys (the classic domestic form) and the mottled brown ones end up being mottled adults (or the all dark wild phenotypes).

Russ
SomesBirder
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Re: Muscovy Duck

Postby SomesBirder » Thu Jul 25, 2019 8:26 am

I, too, would like if some clarification was provided here. It is to my understanding that mallard-Muscovy hybrids are infertile, so how could a hybrid be more or less than 50% mallard?

-SomesBirder
Grahame
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Re: Muscovy Duck

Postby Grahame » Fri Jul 26, 2019 6:45 pm

Sorry Russ, I have been out of touch for a while and missed your post. I have no concrete evidence, but from what I have seen over the years, they strike me that in the main, they have hybridised with Aylesbury ducks, but some have been probably with Mallard /Rouen.

Grahame
Jake
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Re: Muscovy Duck

Postby Jake » Fri Aug 16, 2019 10:36 pm

They (hybrids) are generally always infertile. Juvenile muscovies often look like the *could* be hybrids, as they don't have the extensive wattly faces and their plumage looks browner/duller, like a mallard. I don't think I've ever seen Aylesbury and Rouen ducks at any of the park ponds that I've visited... mind you, it could be a duck keeper that's dumping the hybrids. Muscovies are pretty common, hybrids less so; I would expect muscovy hybrids between the more common domestic/dumped breeds (Pekin, Cayuga, Swedish blue and mixes) and between mallards.

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