black duck hybrid pics

greg setter

greg setter

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It's been several years now since my last one. Some times we seem to see a fair number, then none for several years. I shot this one along with a hen greenwing last week on a short afternoon trip. One thing I have noticed about when I shoot one of these is that they always seem a little different when winging in. Not that I know what it is, because I am almost always thinking I am shooting a black, but when I get them in hand I am not surprised. I must pick up something in the body shape, the way it decoys, the speculum, that I am not processing at the time. But a good looking duck anyway. There are a few different shot here so you get to see a couple views of the speculum and the head.
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Look at that nice purple color. You can see the top white band here also.

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And now it looks blue like a mallard. Below is a shot of the head where you can pick up a little green

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And there you have it. Ate it while watching the Army-Navy game on Saturday afternoon.
 
Greg~

Another feature to look for on Black X Mallard hybrids is the underwings (the underwing coverts, actually). Blacks have 8 to 10 dark markings at the "wrist"; Mallard underwing coverts are pure White. I shot a hybrid last week - looked like a Black but with the White underwings. No camera with me - so did not photograph....

All the best,

SJS
 
Greg we shoot several every year and almost all of them look similar to the one you killed. Everyonce in a while we kill one that is more mallard than black duck. A friend of mine that hunts along the Illinois river says most of the "black ducks" he sees are hybrids that look similar to these that were killed here in jersey.

This one was killed by a friend last year. Banded as a mallard x black duck.



I took this picture in the dark but is much more mallard than most of the hybrids we kill. This was killed this about 6 years ago.



It's a subject I've looked into but I always seem to hit a wall in my research when it comes to the hybridization of black ducks.
 
Greg, that is still a beautiful duck. Glad you are getting some good action. We have that out here with mallards invading the Mexican ducks. They look much the same as the hybrids on this page. The only difference being that the plumage is not as dark as that stately black duck. Of course the speculum is also a different color.
Al
 
This bird was identified as a black duck drake per the banding data (though it could have been banded while it was very young) and as a hybrid via genetics (I was in the USFW wing program the last three seasons). Black duck was not on my mind when it pitched into the spread.

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Craig was it banded same year it was harvested? I don't even think I would have considered it a hybrid. I would have considered it an eclipse mallard drake. Does he have a tail curl too?
 
Dave it had tail curls if memory serves and it was banded in late September 2013 and the certificate said it was hatched in 2013 so it may have been too young to determine? "AMERICAN BLACK DUCK, MALE" is what is on my certificate...
 
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