Thursday, April 19, 2007

Nesting Mallards?!


I saw this pair of ducks on the river today. The white duck was obviously with the female mallard. They were feeding on minnows which were present in large quantities where a creek emptied into the river. I found no matches in my bird guide or on the internet. Is this a domestic duck, or a white male mallard? Any ideas?

8 comments:

  1. Oh, heavens! Laura asked for flower IDs and I flunk. Susan asked for waterfowl IDs. I flunk. You ask for them, too, and I flunk. But I love those photos, Ruth. I hope your question will be answered soon!

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  2. Anonymous1:08 am GMT-4

    Maybe an albino mallard?

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  3. Mary- Guide books don't show everything, that is obvious from all the people having ID difficulties!

    Jaspenelle- That is what I was thinking. It acted like a mallard, not like a lost barnyard duck.

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  4. Anonymous8:25 am GMT-4

    My guess is that this is a domestic! But could be albino but really hard to tell with the mallards!

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  5. Most of the time when I check these things out they turn out to be domestic.-Nice picture either way.

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  6. Monarch and Larry- I guess it remains a mystery. It sure was unusual to watch this pair.

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  7. Wow! An albino mallard. Wow! My vote is for albinism :0)

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  8. Thanks Cathy! That is what I wanted to hear.

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