DuckSouth.com

juvenile mallard drake. First and last time down the flyaway.

With the recent preoccupation in this place, I'd say that's an old Bull Dyker...ie lost the female and the male hormones taking over or maybe if indeed a young drake (with hens bill), it's a fag... That's just an opinion, not meant to offend the closet homos around here...

It's an old hen. The bill is the cincher. Where's The Waterfowler to weigh in?!

Double R 2 wrote:It's an old hen. The bill is the cincher.

Bingo

i am wrong

Found this on a legit birding site. Any of y'all ever heard of this?

Intersex Mallards

The following bird appears to be intersex, a female Mallard that is developing male characteristics. Intersexes in nature are rare but not exceptional and quite a few similar ducks can be found among internet images, though many are difficult to identify as such. Many intersex Mallards bear a striking resemblance to some Mallard hybrids, especially Mallard x Black Duck hybrids, but can often be told apart by the combination of female-type bill and extensively male-like plumage.

That is exactly what it is a intersex mallard.

http://10000birds.com/intersex-mallard-vancouver.htm

What RR said. It's an aged hen incapable of reproduction as it is producing both testosterone and estrogen. As he said, the orange bill is the give away. A hermaphrodite, XXY chrosomal, bird won't show orange in the bill. I've actually seen several with solid green heads.

I know EXACTLY what that is...one dead mofo. No really I was wondering if it might be a wigeon/mallard...pretty sharp tail but I'll go with the sex mix up line too.

The Waterfowler wrote:What RR said. It's an aged hen incapable of reproduction as it is producing both testosterone and estrogen. As he said, the orange bill is the give away. A hermaphrodite, XXY chrosomal, bird won't show orange in the bill. I've actually seen several with solid green heads.

The link that mossyisland posted was not the one I saw, but basically says the same thing I was thinking, and the same thing y'all are saying (RR and The Waterfowler). I have always heard the old females called "intersex" because, like our interstates leave one state for a next, these birds were "leaving" one sex for the other due to their hormone levels being out of whack. Whatever you call them, it's an oddity.

it's a ugly son or daughter of a bitcha

feather wrote:I know EXACTLY what that is...one dead mofo. No really I was wondering if it might be a wigeon/mallard...pretty sharp tail but I'll go with the sex mix up line too.

The Waterfowler posted some pics of what a MallardxWigeon looks like. It's a beautiful bird, you should check them out. Look for his topic on the main page about hybrids and mutants.

I don't know about the duck.. But if my wife came home and found that thing laying on her granite counter top she would turn me from a he to a she....

I killed a duck that looks identical to this one several years ago. I have always figure it was a wigeon - mallard cross. It has both the same characteristics of a hen and drake mallard but is alot smaller than the typical mallard. the size of the duck is the same size as a wigeon. Either way it looks good on my wall with my other ducks and critters.