ll said Kansaskid.
yes the US pales in comparison to the European collections when it comes to mutations in waterfowl. One they (the Europeans) have had waterfowl collections as a whole way longer that the folks here in the states. Two, until recent years, the desire for mutations here hasnt been very big, as many, myself included prefer to keep them in their natural state. Back in the day many breeders would just cull off colored birds and continue with the normal versions. Then someone decided mutations were 'rare" and should cost a fortune so the tides turned and now everyone is set out and intent on making a dozen mutations for every species seems like. While yes, they are a naturally occurring phenomenon, you can intentionally breed to created them or once created just water every normal colored bird down into splits for this that and the other.
This is a two sided sword. While I do in fact like a lot of the mutations, I have yet to see one as beautiful as it's natural counterpart and find myself wondering when do we draw the line? I know there are tons of normal birds out there still, but think way down the road...will there come a day when we had split stuff up so much that the normal phase is considered unusual?
As for the US mutations out there, there may be more, but here's a list of the commonly found ones. As I said, there may well be more, most likely are, but they would be in just a few select collections at this time.
wood duck- white, silver, apricot
mandarin, white, white throat
ring teal- blond- white
fulvous treeduck- silver
eytons treeduck- silver
bahama pintail- silver
red head- white
american widgeon- blonde
common eider- white
If you know of others feel free to copy and add to the list
yes the US pales in comparison to the European collections when it comes to mutations in waterfowl. One they (the Europeans) have had waterfowl collections as a whole way longer that the folks here in the states. Two, until recent years, the desire for mutations here hasnt been very big, as many, myself included prefer to keep them in their natural state. Back in the day many breeders would just cull off colored birds and continue with the normal versions. Then someone decided mutations were 'rare" and should cost a fortune so the tides turned and now everyone is set out and intent on making a dozen mutations for every species seems like. While yes, they are a naturally occurring phenomenon, you can intentionally breed to created them or once created just water every normal colored bird down into splits for this that and the other.
This is a two sided sword. While I do in fact like a lot of the mutations, I have yet to see one as beautiful as it's natural counterpart and find myself wondering when do we draw the line? I know there are tons of normal birds out there still, but think way down the road...will there come a day when we had split stuff up so much that the normal phase is considered unusual?
As for the US mutations out there, there may be more, but here's a list of the commonly found ones. As I said, there may well be more, most likely are, but they would be in just a few select collections at this time.
wood duck- white, silver, apricot
mandarin, white, white throat
ring teal- blond- white
fulvous treeduck- silver
eytons treeduck- silver
bahama pintail- silver
red head- white
american widgeon- blonde
common eider- white
If you know of others feel free to copy and add to the list
