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Bobbins
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egg
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Ducks! - 2008/02/05 04:32 I live in Berwick upon Tweed - we live just by the river - great for seeing ducks - scaup, goldeneye, etc.. However, i can't identify these two. I think the group may just be immature Mallards - but not sure about the black duck with a white chest. Please see the pictures below:








So any ideas?

Cheers

Robin
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woodhole
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hatchling
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Re:Ducks! - 2008/02/05 05:18 Hi there, well I can,t say I'm any authority on ducks but there seems to be many hi-brids on local rivers and canals. It seems the Mallards will breed freely with other ducks to give some rather colourfull mixtures. But I do stand to be corrected by the more experienced members and indeed would also be interested in their replies. cheers!
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clydebirder
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big bird
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Re:Ducks! - 2008/02/16 02:37 These birds are derived from domestic breeds of Mallard, the domestic birds interbreed with wild birds as well as other domestic strains giving a wide range of plumages. In most cases enough Mallard plumage traits show through to identify them but they can prove difficult, particularly if you are relatively new to birding

Cheers, John
Take only photographs, leave only footprints....
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HenHarrierHall
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juvenile
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Re:Ducks! - 2008/02/24 21:47 ducks cross-breed with other species of ducks and hybrids occur . ruddy ducks and mallards do this the most which creates strange looking ducks.
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clydebirder
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Re:Ducks! - 2008/02/26 03:22 HenHarrierHall wrote:
ducks cross-breed with other species of ducks and hybrids occur . ruddy ducks and mallards do this the most which creates strange looking ducks.

I've never heard of a Ruddy Duck x Mallard hybrid, it would seem a very unlikely coupling. With ducks they tend to hybridize with birds in the same family e.g diving duck x diving duck (ie. Scaup x Tufted Duck) and dabbling duck x dabbling duck (ie. Mallard x Gadwll), the only duck I know that has hybridized with Ruddy Duck in Europe is the White-headed Duck (which is why Ruddy Ducks are being shot in Britain)

Cheers, John
Take only photographs, leave only footprints....
Link: My web site
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