White mallard?!?!?!

[RealDcoy]

Hey waterfowlers,

Maybe I am just new to seeing one of these. but I thought some of you might enjoy this picture.(It will take a little time to load.)
http://members.aol.com/realdcoy/myhomepage/albinoduck

I have never seen one of these before. (Or at least never noticed one.) It's not an albino as it doesn't lack eye pigment. I guess it is a mutation. Maybe a offspring of a wild mallard and a domesticated farm duck?

[jrvelie]

Thanks for posting this message, I thought I was going nuts when i saw one a couple of weeks ago on my home form work. I turned around and went back to look at it but is was gone. I told some friends of mine and they said it was a domestic duck. Last fall my hunting bubby and i also saw a all white Canadian goose with 5 other normal colored geese.

[Mr. 16 gauge]

I think what you have there is a genetic mutation, not a cross between a domestic and a wild mallard. Crosses between the two usually result in individual feathers showing the charicteristics of one or the other parent, not a mix of the two. In other words, some feathers would be totally white, while others would have the colors of a wild mallard. I had a similar experience a few years back on opening day. I shot what I thought was a black duck, but when the dog brought it in, you could see it was a VERY dark mallard; it looked as if someone tried to spray paint it with black paint. The neck ring was just barely visible, and the underside of the wings were a dark grey. Should have had it mounted. I also saw a totally black black duck once; even the undersides of the wings were jet black! I once saw a cross between a mallard and a black duck at a duck I.D. clinic....it had green eye patches, similar to a green wing teal, and a purple speculum with white edges, while the rest of the body resembled a black duck. Anyway, very interesting pic....thanks a bunch.

[RealDcoy]

Here's a better picture of just the "white" mallard. I videotaped about 200 ducks together on the Boardman here in town, and then digitized some frames.

It is kind of interesting to see so many mallards in transition to their summer colors.
http://members.aol.com/realdcoy/myhomepage/albinoduck2

You can see that the head has brown-tinged feathers.