ID

Ther are quite a few of these at a local pond.I did not find them in my North American bird book.They are very friendly and inquisitive!
Perhaps a suggestion for another book is in order?
Thanks
Dan

Muscovey Ducks. They are native to Mexico-N. Argentina but have been domesticated in the other areas of North America. Vary from white to black.

- Luke

Thanks Luke!

These have really endeard themselves to me.
They are also good practice for this rank amature.

Dan

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muscovy_Duck

I'm glad you've found some willing subjects!

Thank you Katja. Very informative link.

Dan

I hate Muscovy ducks! They breed with Peking ducks and mallards in our local ponds. They give them mottled colors and that ugly red face. Around here, they are rapidly breeding out the natural beauty of some of our ducks.

There was even a town in Florida....read this years ago.....that folks actually aimed for the ducks with their cars to diminish the number of these ducks! Wish I could remember the town.

My daughter used to call them "turkey ducks"....with that prominant red face!

Muscovies can seem like nice additions to local avifauna, but they really do cause a lot of problems. Their waste can contaminate local water bodies and the really bad part about them is their propensity to spread diseases to native birds. One such disease is Duck Viral Enteritis. Also known as Duck Plague. A very bad disease that was not in many areas of this country before the introduction of Muscovies. I advise against sheltering these birds or adding more to the feral populations. Here in Florida it is illegal to release them into the wild. I am not just mentioning these things from an uneducated perspective. I am a state waterfowl biologist of over 20 years and I deal with these types of situations every day. FYI. If Muscovies breed with mallard type ducks (e.g., Pekins, crested ducks, Indian Runners; all basically different breeds of the mallard) their young are not fertile, so Muscovies do not contribute to genetic dilution of local mallard populations. However, feral mallards, not normal wild mallards, are almost as bad as Muscovies and in some areas are worse. Feral mallards also transmit diseases, and worse, they do produce fertile young when they interbreeds with native mallard type ducks such as the mottled duck here in FL, or the Mexican duck in SE US, or the Kaloa duck in HI. To conclude, releasing domistic ducks into the wild is not a good thing to do. Please don't do it if you value real wildlife. Cheers. Ron

Ron and Lucy,

Thank you for the info.
It is a little of a bummer to hear this after they endeared themselves to me.

Dan