Shelduck x Wood Duck Tadorna tadorna x Aix sponsa

I'm indebted to Lynn Morag for drawing my attention to these remarkable birds. They are on a small pond surrounding the River House Restaurant near Stirling and Lyn's photos on Flickr were taken betweeen October 2008 and February 2011, so they've clearly been there a while. I had an opportunity to visit in December 2013, not knowing if they were still present, and found them easily. There were only 5 other birds on the pond, a Mute Swan and 4 ducks which all appeared to be hybrids (Yellow-billed Pintail x Laysan Duck and 3 x Tufted Duck x Ferruginous Duck). Their origin is unknown, but clearly not natural. Given that some wildfowl collection owners do not like hybrids I wonder whether they are unwanted birds that have been released here, or perhaps donated to the restaurant?

The two birds were very different. I presume the well-marked bird in the first 10 photos below is a male and the scruffier less distinctly-marked bird in the next 10 photos is a female, but comments on that theory are welcome!

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Shelduck x Wood Duck hybrids (of unknown but presumably captive origin), River House Restaurant, Stirling (Stirlingshire, UK), 27th December 2012