Orange mallard.

Yukon Mike

Yukon Mike

Well-known member
Got this one back in October. I have never seen anything like it before - you guys? He tasted the same as any other duck. His legs were brighter orange than typical, and the fat and skin were both considerably more orange than normal. His crop was full of water weeds and snails, but most of the mallards eat snails around here.

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Mike
 
When we get ducks like that down here that "glow" orange, everyone thinks they have flown over the Trinity Site. Cool pics, Mike.
Al
 
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I noticed the same thing this year when hunting on the Oregon Coast. I figured it had something to do with what each has been eating. The orange one made me think of scoters so I put it in the sausage pile and the white one in the roasting pile.
 
Brook trout and other trout and salmon seem to get more orange in their flesh when feeding heavily on crustaceans or some kinds of zooplankton.

Nothing tastes as good as brook trout feeding heavily on crayfish!

Not sure what the duck equivalent may be?
 
Mike, Looks like a power plant duck , if they feed in the discharge area long enough they take on a slight (Glow). No worries bacon any garlic will cover any weird taste. Lol.
 
Brandon had a book, Duck Duck Goose I think was the title, and it said orange fat indicated the eating of snails, fish etc. The author seemed to believe it such a bird would not taste as good as one only eating grains.
 
Eh, he's just one of those TRUE northern mallards
be a good pair for putting on the rotisserie
 
I am no biologist but my guess would be he came from an area where a lot of his diet contained food with high iodine content. Sort of like those orange tinted snow geese....
 
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