Mallard x Red-crested Pochard Anas platyrhynchos x Netta rufina
The pale body and wings of this bird are probably a sign that the two parents were not a typical wild-type Mallard and a typical Red-crested Pochard. Many Red-crested Pochards in captivity are leucistic, so this may be the source of the pallour, but the Mallard-like elements bear a striking resemblance to Saxony-type domestic Mallards (of which there were several on the same lake) and I suspect this is more likely the cause.
Several photos of this type of hybrid on the internet appear to show a mixture of male and female characteristics and are believed to be intersex. This bird, as well as one or two others, have little or no suggestion of female plumage but the bill pattern is female-like with its dark base. It seems that with intersex ducks the bill becomes male-like more slowly than the plumage, so intersex is still a possible explanation, but I am not sure... can it be that some males of this hybrid have a bill like this?
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Mallard (probably domestic variant) x Red-crested Pochard hybrid, Cleethorpes Boating Lake (Lincolnshire, UK), 7th April 2012 |
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