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Funny looking mottled duck

5K views 11 replies 8 participants last post by  bluegill addict 
#1 ·
We shot this in Carrizo Springs last weekend, and it is unlike any other mottled duck I have seen. The wing patch has white bars on the top and bottom, and it had 4 curls. The feathers above the curls as well as the head had a very slight green tinge to them in the sunlight. One of the pictures has it compared to a normal mottled duck. The land is only about 40 miles from the Rio Grande.

Could it possibly be a Mexican Duck, or is it just a funky mottled duck?
 

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#5 ·
The white on the speculum suggests Mexican Mallard but the curls say mallard/mottled cross. They can and do cross and I have been told by local waterfowl biologists that the release of pen raised mallards is a big threat to our mottled duck population as they are very aggresive and will breed with the mottled ducks. There are some hunting operations that do pen raised mallards and there are some individuals along the coast who release mallards for their own hunting. It is more common than you might think.
 
#8 ·
That's a Mexican Duck for sure. All the clues are there including the purplish blue to greenish blue speculum bordered with black and white bars on leading and trailing edges. Carrizo Springs is barely on the eastern edge of their range. In the U.S., most are found in the Trans-Pecos of Texas, Western New Mexico and Eastern Arizona.
 
#9 ·
That's a Mexican Duck for sure. All the clues are there including the purplish blue to greenish blue speculum bordered with black and white bars on leading and trailing edges. Carrizo Springs is barely on the eastern edge of their range. In the U.S., most are found in the Trans-Pecos of Texas, Western New Mexico and Eastern Arizona.
sad3sm Not a Mexican Mallard........Mallard/Mottled cross. Curled tail feathers:

"Confidence in the identification of Mexican Duck in southeast Arizona is an elusive goal. The party line is that no "pure" Mexican Ducks -- whatever that might mean -- occur in the region, and in fact, close examination of most candidates ends up revealing a curled uppertail covert, a hint of green in the crown, a whitish tail feather, or a big white tip on a greater covert: all customarily considered signs of intergradation with "northern" Mallard."
 
#10 ·
Yeah, that's a given that some mallard is mixed in somewhere along the line. I saw a post about Florida outlawing releasing pen raised mallards because they were cross breeding with their mottled ducks.

It would be a far rarer to find a mottled duck that far inland on that part of the Rio Grande than it would be to find a Mexican duck there.
 
#11 ·
I have seen and shot true mallard drakes in the area in question. I do not know if they are domesticated that got loose (I would be on this) or wild, but they were mallard drakes. I know the local TPWD biologist can't stand them due to them interbreeding witht he mottleds.

If I can find it, I will show you a pic of the one I shot opening morning this year.
 
#12 ·
I have seen mallards in McMullen county but not as far south as Dimmit County. However I have also seen a few greenheads on the Rio Grande in Big Bend National Park in late March. If we shoot another crossbreed next season its definitely going on the wall.
 
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