New species of duck?

[Ruttin' Buck]

Hey radke - maybe was a gadwall. Males have a grey body and a jet black bill. They are very similar in size to mallards and the females actually resemble hen mallards.

[radke22]

This thing was as black as a black lab. No brown, grey or any other colors. lookis like it was dipped in oil.

[IceHawk]

Could it of been possibly a Black duck, they are real dark and they sound like a mallard. The females have a darker bill a more greenish color the males have a olive to yellowish bill. They are not real common in this state but I have seen them. The thing that stumps me is you said it had a jet black bill?

[Guest]

Shot a Hen Scoter in Polk county 2 falls ago so you could be correct in your guess. Quack like a mallard, don't know as I didn't let it fly by a second time to find out

[fishface5]

There are domestic ducks that are black. Possibly a cross?

[radke22]

I have a hen Black Scoter i shot two falls ago on the wall and it looks nothing like that. All black belly to the tail.

[radke22]

On the way to school this morning i saw a duck that looked like a black scoter near white bear lake. So, i stopped to check it out and i am stummped. Looked like a mallard, but it was as black as coal. The bill, eyes, and underside where jet black. But as i walked away io heard it quack-definatly a mallard. I know theres albinos, could this be just the opposite color phase?

[Ruttin' Buck]

I considered the black duck but with the all black bill I agree that it probably wasn't one of those.

Got me...I'm going with an immature blue goose...quack came from a hen mallard hiding in the rushes!!...I'm stumped.

[Guest]

Black ducks are not BLACK...lol...look more like a darker version of a hen Mallard.

My guess is that it is a domestic duck. There are black versions just like there are all white versions. Sometimes they decide to "escape" and join a flock of wild ducks...too bad because it's not good for these domestic birds to interbreed with wild ones...screws up the gene pool.

[B. Amish]

Was it a coot?....LOL
Ducks Do have a thing called melanism, i think thats spelled right, it's when the dark pigments take over, opposite of albinoism

[FrazerBayMan]

I have an idea... We have some domesticated Mallards that escaped their pens and are seen on lakes sometimes. They are very black, with the same bill as Mallards and sound like them. Could be a domestic.

[FlyingV]

A few years ago I saw a purple duck on Lake Phalen. He had a partner which was an almost white duck with mallard markings on the wings and what appeared to be a cotton ball on his head. I took pictures of both but I don't have them in digital format otherwise I would post them.
I believe these were domestics crossed with wild mallards.

[wooduck26]

I would rule out a Scoter I shot one in Jackson cty. 3 years a go the weirdest duck I have ever seen, if it was a Drake I woulda put it on the wall......Its simply a genetic cross of a Mallard, sometimes they can have big white patches, black patches, grey feet.....Theres is an Albino Mallard in Woodbury I have seen it near the Woodale raquet club, and a buddy seen it under the Lake rd. bridge.....
I shot a Blackduck/Mallard cross a few years a go on the river....talk about a cool duck.....shoulda mounted it....Woody!

[psegriz]

I shot a duck 20 yrs ago that looked like a mallard with a tail like a pintail. Do ducks cross breed like that in the wild? Oh well I just called him a pinard anyway. Never seen or heard of anything like it since.

GRIZ

[bmc]

I've got an issue of the DU magazine with pics of a pintail/mallard cross, a mallard/
shoveler cross, and a bluewing teal/shovler cross. If I was more computer literate, I'd try to post them here. LOL It was in the July/August 2003 issue of DU. That teal/shoveler cross is just awesome, what a beautiful bird.

bmc

[wooduck26]

GRIZ>>>>>The duck you shot is called a Mule Duck.....Its a Mallard/Pintail cross...I have a video with a guy in Louisiana that shoots one......VERY COOL looking...!

Did you happen to shoot it on the river....

(I know where you hunt, and even the exact island, but wont say a word!)
I see you once in a while down there...I am the guy with the mud motor on his Jon Boat....we met a couple years ago.....Dave!

[honker23]

I know this is a little late, but I'd guess a version of the domestic East Indies. Look up a pic on google.

[honker23]

I forgot, black east indies. I shot one four years ago in sc MN, dark day and it quacked like a mallard. Here's a pic.
http://www.feathersite.com/Poultry/Ducks/BkEast/BRKEastIndies.html