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November 15, 2011 at 8:02 pm
It really looks like some kind of Muscovy duck hybrid. They mate with mallards sometimes.
http://www.birds.cornell.edu/crows/domducks.htm
November 16, 2011 at 8:59 am
Thanks. When I was googling (actually, I don’t use Google, but “startpaging” hasn’t caught on as a verb), I saw some awfully strange looking Moscovy ducks.
My friend tells me that a flock of ducks used to frequent a local gas station (now torn down), wandering fearlessly (fecklessly?) among the cars and pumps.
November 16, 2011 at 10:50 am
Re your link, Muscovies “wag their tails.” I actually remember that from a place in Allentown called Illick’s Mill which was on a creek. It was home to a motley flock — mallards and some Muscovies — and over the years the natural happened and you would see a small number of odd-looking birds. The Muscovies did indeed wag their tails.
November 16, 2011 at 3:43 pm
I can’t remember whether this fellow wagged his tail or not, but his absolute lack of timidity was amazing. As the photo shows, he was right at my feet and completely undisturbed.
We have mallards and geese in the nearby pond in the summer. They are used to people and not at all fearful, but they walk away in a most deliberate fashion if you get close to them.