Avery Posted January 13 Share Posted January 13 Seen today in Chittenden Co. VT. This duck was in a group of Mallards, and appeared at first like a classic MALL x ABDU. But, myself and other birders think that it is instead an Intersex bird, since the "odd" feathering wasn't dark enough to be ABDU plumage traits. The speculum had a strong white border as well. Thanks for any thoughts! https://ebird.org/checklist/S100667322 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie Spencer Posted January 13 Share Posted January 13 Curly male tail feathers, for what that may be worth. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Bird Nuts Posted January 14 Share Posted January 14 Intersex birds are female and retain the orange bill, so I think this is a male ABDU x MALL with possibly more Mallard than Black Duck genes. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Avery Posted January 15 Author Share Posted January 15 8 hours ago, The Bird Nuts said: Intersex birds are female and retain the orange bill, so I think this is a male ABDU x MALL with possibly more Mallard than Black Duck genes. Okay. I didn’t know if an intersex bird could be male with female traits as well. Another birder (and a really good one too) had mentioned ruling out Intersex when looking at MALL x AMBD hybrid like this one. That one was much darker overall though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobinHood Posted January 15 Share Posted January 15 12 hours ago, The Bird Nuts said: a male ABDU x MALL with possibly more Mallard than Black Duck genes. Agree. Although predominantly Black Duck variations seem much more common I find the plumage can vary across the spectum to predominantly Mallard. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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