Well, actually, you are not entirely correct, Linda. I have to side with Dutchhollow on this and I certainly don't think they meant to be rude by any means (nor do I). They are not Calls. Only Calls are Calls, LOL. There are several breeds of bantam ducks that are not Calls (of course, your Grays, Blue Fawns, Whites, and Butterscotch in your original post are Calls). The breeds you listed in parenthesis are not all the same breed either, nor are many of them Calls. To clarify:
Australian Spotteds are not Calls.
Miniature Appleyards are not Calls.
Black East Indies are not Calls.
*Not mentioned here, but Overbergs and Silkies are also not Calls.
All of the above are merely other breeds of bantam ducks and there are very distinct differences that separate them from the Calls. As far as the Miniature Appleyard. The Miniature Appleyard is the same thing as the Silver bantam in Europe. They are not the same thing as Silver Calls. Silver Calls from Europe are the same thing as Snowy Calls in the US (color harlequin phase dusky or m^d/m^d, li^h/li^h). In Europe, they do also have a true Miniature Silver Appleyard that is considered a separate breed from the Silver Bantam/Mini Appleyard. Their true Miniature Appleyard is the correct genotype for the Appleyard color (light phase restricted Mallard or m^r/m^r, li/li). This breed does not exist in the United States. What we do have is also the Silver Appleyard Call. The US Silver Appleyard Call, like the true Miniature Appleyard of Europe, is the correct Appleyard genotype.
So, to paraphrase, the following are all separate breeds:
Silver Bantam/US Miniature Appleyard (Miniature Appleyard in US, called Silver Bantam in Europe- color harlequin phase dusky)
True Miniature Appleyard (does not exist in the US- color light phase restricted mallard)
Silver/Snowy Calls (Snowy Call in US, called Silver Call in Europe- color harlequin phase dusky)
Silver Appleyard Call (color light phase restricted mallard)
Snowy Mallards (not mentioned in this post, but also color harlequin phase dusky)
Again, to reiterate... only the birds labeled as Calls are Calls. The rest are simply other bantam breeds. My experience with these birds is that I have raised the bantam breeds for many, many years at this point. I have learned a lot from the Holderreads and have extensively worked with their line of birds, including being one of the first to raise a few of their bantam breeds. I also am continuing their rare color breeding programs in several other varieties, so rest assured this information is correct. (
The only area that is different from current Holderread literature is a slight difference in whether Snowy/Silver is dusky based rather than wild-type, but that is not really pertinent to this discussion. I believe, at this time, the vast majority in the US to be dusky based and this should be changed in future editions of the Holderread book).
I hope this helps, and again this is meant to educate
not to be rude. I know it is sometimes *very* difficult to correct something on this board without causing drama, so I hope this advice is taken in the spirit it is given.