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Can you provide ID for this bird?

8 years ago

I took these pictures this morning, in Northern Calif., at a creek/ estuary which runs into SF Bay. Sorry a couple are not great, but they were moving fast! I assume the single adult is a female. Note the prominent black duck bill, and the shovel shaped large tail. Definitely some sort of diving duck. The ducklings had exactly the same patch of white on their chests as the mother. I have 4 "bird books", but could not find this bird in any of them. Any thoughts as to who this might be?

Jackie

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Comments (9)

catherinet
8 years ago
Black Swedish duck??
jacqueline9CA
Original Author
8 years ago
Wow - thanks! I did not think of a domestic duck, but it certainly looks like it - see below pic I found on the internet compared to the first one I posted above - the white bib looks identical. The internet says they are "hardy", and "good foragers", which might explain why they are surviving in the wild. The only thing that does not appear to match is the broad tail. Perhaps the ones I saw are domestic/wild hybrids? Very appreciative of the info.

Jackie

BLACK SWEDISH DUCK

MY DUCK
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Thank you so much!! I will do that. First I better tell you the area we're in. We live in Illinois between the Mississippi River and Rock River in the Quad Cities (Ever hear of the Rock Island lines or John Deere of Moline, Illinois?...well, we're from the Rock Island/Moline area.) Here is the wading bird that's so dark looking. I'm so sorry these photos are so small and hard to see...there was a huge marshy area between me and the birds. I'm in the market for a better zoom lens, but WOW have you seen the price of them?? This is the swooper...some sort of plover or sandpiper maybe? At first I thought it was a swallow of some sort...then when I saw the photo I thought maybe a killdeer, but I don't think so. Sorry these are poor photos too...it flashed by me so quickly, I just snapped away as a spur of the moment thing! Would someone please confirm that this is a female redwing blackbird? This one was from a different day in the woods. There were lots of orioles, bluebirds, red-bellied woodpeckers, and a myriad of other birds in this area. I was wondering if it could be a female oriole...the tail doesn't seem long enough. Again, sorry for the quality, it was a long way away from me. I did unspeakable things to this photo to get it to even show any markings but the color is just not there. Thanks so much for any help! Ginni (the bird challenged)
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Oh! Thanks, I've shown these to several people and everyone, like myself, has been stumped. I know nothing about falconry and training raptors so idk if it's normal that I didn't see anyone anywhere near when I saw this "hawk". No one around except for the other bird that's in a few of the photos, and a few smaller birds that looked to be mobbing either this bird or the other large bird, idk, I Wonder if this bird might have been lost?? Thanks again
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catherinet
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
I wonder if someone around there may have raised a couple? I saw online that you can buy them to raise.
jacqueline9CA
Original Author
8 years ago
It is sort of a bird sanctuary, and there are all sorts of ducks, geese, egrets, herons, cormorants, hawks, and smaller birds, of course. We have even seen Western Bluebirds there twice. So, if someone had these ducks and wanted to release them, this would be the perfect place. I have a vague memory of seeing a strikingly black & white family of ducks 2-3 years ago - a pair of adults, and at least 5 ducklings, all black & white. So maybe that's what happened.

We went for a bike ride there again this morning, and saw this threesome again. The ducklings look darker already - I will keep an eye on them.

Jackie
catherinet
8 years ago
It sounds like a wonderful place!
jacqueline9CA
Original Author
8 years ago
Update - we saw the mother and 2 ducklings again today - the ducklings are a little bigger, and both of them are completely black & white just like the duck. Also, I think this may be the answer to an interesting phenomenon we have noticed in the local mallard flock (20-30 ducks, depending). Over about the last 5 years, drakes have appeared which look like mallards, except that they have identical large white patches on their chests. They have increased from one at first. Today I counted 4 of them. Perhaps the released Black Swedish Ducks have joined the mallards, and produced hybrids?

Jackie
catherinet
8 years ago
Hmmm....that's interesting! I don't know if ducks interbreed. Maybe someone here does. Actually, I just did a search and it sounds like Mallard males will breed with just about anything! haha I guess all domestic ducks have come from Mallards. One person on a poultry forum said that she had a mallard mate with a Muscovy duck (which is not a Mallard-derived duck) and it was like a horse mating with a donkey and produced a sterile "mule duck". This is probably too much info.....but the bottom line is it's quite possible that the Mallards are mating with the Black Swedish ducks there.
jacqueline9CA
Original Author
8 years ago
My brother is a bird person. He saw the diving tail on my ducks, and the body being more of a dabbling duck. He said they do interbreed, and called this one a "franken duck". In any event, they are happy in our bird sanctuary.

Jackie
catherinet
8 years ago
lol.........a franken duck. Oh well, they're still pretty. :)

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