Drake or Duck? (pics)

[desertdarlene]

Here's another photo of "Ducky" for comparison on my Gather page:

http://www.gather.com/viewImage.action?fileId=3096224746612259

 

[tia]

Interesting. He looks a lot like that Gadwall picture, some of the same colors. It will be interesting to see in the next month what he looks like. I would sure like to know where he came from. He doesn't have a drake feather at this time.

 

[desertdarlene]

I noticed that Jet has pretty prominent claws on his toes, too.

Gadwalls are small and do have white bellies and white speculum feathers, which is why I am leaning towards a hybrid. The fact that you said he's growing some kind of ridge or crest on his head along with his prominent claws might indicate he's a mule or perhaps a hybrid with a tree-duck.

Ducky and his friend (who is about 2 to 3 weeks older than Ducky) don't have drake feathers, yet, either.

 

[katharinad]

A mule means it is sterile and it also indicates a muscovy being in the breed. Not the case here. It can be a crossbreed, but I don't think it is. Gadwalls are not very heavy egg layers and usually only hatch one or two ducklings. They are not the best moms either and split pretty soon. I think it is a true Gadwall and just hasn't gotten the full colors yet. The toe nails are normal in length, they do not look overly long. They nest in grassy sometimes marshy areas, which would explain the airport. The female quack is abrupt, sneezy kvunk, usually given singly, of heard at night. Males usually are silent, sometimes they give a quiet rurp or rrep sound. Lets see what else happens with its colors as it grows.

 

[desertdarlene]

Here's a photo of a female gadwall I took a photo of, she has a white belly. But, I think she might be in the middle of a molt because she doesn't have her white speculum feathers:

ETA: Oh, I see where the ridge is, that would not indicate a mule.

By the way, a mule would be sterile, but since your duck has not reached breeding age or has attempted to breed, there is no way to determine if he/she is sterile.

As you can see in my photo, your duck has a lot of the same characteristics of a gadwall, especially around the head and neck, but I still think she may be a hybrid between a gadwall and some other duck.

 

[tia]

I took another picture of his head once it was dried off and you can see that ridge of feathers along the back of his neck. I just noticed this recently. He has a lot of different feather patterns too.

 

[tia]

He looks a lot like that except for the bill color. he has some of those redish colored feathers coming in.

 

[desertdarlene]

Yeah, the bill color is different, but female gadwalls sometimes have orange bills, too, just like mallards.

ETA: I just looked back at the photos and, yeah, the nails are normal length. I think I saw some of the litter near his/her feet and it looked like it was a long nail, so probably no muscovy in her/him at all.

If he/she is a gadwall-mallard mix, he/she may never get a green head at all if he is a boy, but will still look pretty nonetheless.

 

[desertdarlene]

By the way, check out this photo of a wild female Gadwall. It looks a lot like the last photo you posted:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/annkelliott/226868761

 

[tia]

His head looks a lot like that. It doesn't have too big of a body. I will have to do some research and see how big they get.