Mallard x Pintail Anas platyrhynchos x Anas acuta

This is a hybrid combination that is reported and photographed quite often in both North America and Europe (I've seen lots of photos from Reifel and elsewhere in British Columbia). This first bird shown here was my first in the wild in over 25 years.

The reddish brown on the scapulars and flanks makes me think the Mallard parent may have been a domestic bird, though I suppose they could be remnant immature feathers?

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apparent (Mallard x Pintail) x Pintail backcrossed hybrid, Blakeney Collection (Norfolk, UK), 30th October 2015

 

The next one, from a recently restocked wildfowl collection, appeared to be a backcrossed hybrid. Most likely the product of a pairing between a Mallard x Pintail hybrid and a pure Pintail, I thought. Features suggesting Mallard ancestry included the colour on the breast and the slightly upcurved central tail-covert feather.

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captive possible (Mallard x Pintail) x Pintail backcrossed hybrid, Blakeney Collection (Norfolk, UK), 30th October 2015

By 23rd December this bird had lost its immature feathers in the flanks and wing-coverts and had grown its central tail feathers (or rather central upper tail-coverts). The latter are still held up apart from the tail slightly and are also more widely spaced than we might expect on a pure Pintail (though Pintail may hold these feathers apart at times).

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captive possible (Mallard x Pintail) x Pintail backcrossed hybrid (with Red-crested Pochard), Blakeney Collection (Norfolk, UK), 23rd December 2015

The tail continued to grow, though retained a very slight curve. Some reddish colour on the breast can result from staining so this bird really is very Pintail-like indeed. But there are two other drake Pintails in the collection that don't show any staining so this could still be a consequence of Mallard genes on this individual. However it really is looking very Pintail-like now, so doubts are starting to creep in. Maybe it is just a stained Pintail after all...?

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captive possible (Mallard x Pintail) x Pintail backcrossed hybrid, Blakeney Collection (Norfolk, UK), 27th February 2016