Hybrid duck?

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Hybrid duck?

March 9, 2015 by Mike Powell

This is clearly a male Mallard duck (Anas platyrhynchos), but the unusual coloration of its head makes me wonder if it might be a hybrid, or perhaps is simply not yet mature. I have read on the internet that Mallards will sometimes mate with American Black Ducks, but this one doesn’t really look like any of the photos that I saw of the resulting hybrid ducks.

As I was pondering this question, the duck started to laugh, or so it seemed. Judging from the second photo, do you think that the duck may be laughing at one of his own wise quacks? I have a low tolerance for jokes, so I confess that it quacked me up completely.

Posted in Birds, Humor, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter | Tagged Alexandria VA, Anas platyrhynchos, Canon 50D, Huntley Meadows Park, hybrid duck, mallard, mallard duck, Tamron 150-600mm telephoto | 10 Comments

10 Responses

on March 9, 2015 at 8:01 am | Reply Victor Rakmil

Great capture. I have seen a lot of mallards with that sheen. Hope someone has an answer.
on March 9, 2015 at 10:03 am | Reply Birder's Journey

Haha, ;-D This is fascinating. I’d never heard anything about hybrid ducks till I read your post. Came across this piece today which might be useful: http://www.birds.cornell.edu/crows/domducks.htm
- on March 9, 2015 at 10:12 am | Reply Mike Powell
  
  Thanks. That article was what got me thinking about hybrids. However, I must confess that it left me feeling more than a little confused.
  - on March 9, 2015 at 10:16 am Birder's Journey
    
    Glad you posted your photo and brought up the question! Very interesting…
on March 9, 2015 at 10:29 am | Reply James Keegan

It does look a little different. The neck seems a bit longer than the ones that I’ve seen lately.
on March 9, 2015 at 10:37 am | Reply Dennis Wagoner

I have read that mallards do not necessarily mate with just other mallards.
- on March 13, 2015 at 11:38 pm | Reply Mike Powell
  
  Thanks, I love shots of birds that show personality.
on March 9, 2015 at 11:19 am | Reply Jet Eliot

The mallard has a characteristic laugh, perhaps you can go to this link and you can identify by sound. The laugh of a mallard always makes me laugh, and your photo of it laughing made me smile. http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Mallard/sounds
on March 9, 2015 at 7:57 pm | Reply naturesnippets

Great pictures. It’s a shame they can’t answer our questions.
on March 10, 2015 at 7:33 am | Reply New Hampshire Garden Solutions

Mallards always seem to be happy and smiling and make me feel the same way.