Mallard x Wood Duck Hybrid

[Aging Baby Boomer]

Last year my son shot a mallard x wood duck hybrid on a hunt where several other wood ducks were killed. Possibly a cross between a wood duck and a released mallard. Has anyone else seen this type of hybridism? Does anyone have pictures of other hybrids they have killed? Hope the picture posts!

[Aging Baby Boomer]

Since the first picture posted, I'll put up one more of the hybrid.

[Low Country Sandlapper]

You can probably thank the SCwa (or some other tamie releaser) for this freak of nature.

[Mergie Master]

What LCS said!!

But I've seen some pretty interesting hybrids over the years, or pics of them. JAB has a neat sprig/mallard hybrid mounted. The only ones I've taken have been probably the most common of the lot and that's the blackie/mallard crosses.

The book 'Ducks,Geese and Swans of North America'by Frank Bellrose has plates of several different hybrid combos.

[rollinriver]

Hybrid ducks do not necessarily result from a released mallard X whatever. J. Audubon reported and named as a distinct species the Brewer's duck, which is a mallard X gadwall hybrid. I don't think there were very many relased birds in the 1800's when Audubon did his work. Mallards, released and wild, are very agressive sexually by their very nature and will mate with whatever will give them half a chance. I've seen mallard X sprigs, mallard X redheads, and mallard X woodies. I'm not saying that released birds are not more prone to hybridization, only that it does occur with wild mallards with noteworthy frequency.

[Aging Baby Boomer]

Thanks for the post, RRLabs!

Guess the taxonomists don't always get it right! Although it's been a long time since I took biology, I had always thought that hybridization could occur between different species - but only as long as they were part of the same genus. I thought that viable crosses were not possible beyond the genus boundary. Mallard hybrids with gadwall, pintail and black ducks make sense, because they occur within the same genus - "anas."

The mallard x wood duck and mallard x redhead that you reference are what I am looking for. Has anyone else killed "outside the genus" hybrids like these?

I agree that my son's bird could be a wild mallard x wood duck cross.

[rollinriver]

ABB,
Hybridization can occur outside of the genus. For example a corn snake, Elaphe guttata guttata, and a king snake Lampropeltis getula sp. can hybridize and the resulting offspring are able to reproduce. You can also think of a donkey and a horse, producing a mule, but the mule is sterile. I have been told that most crosses outside of genus in ducks result in sterile offspring. Just some thoughts.

[GMAC]

i have heard that some female mules are fertile.

[Aging Baby Boomer]

[Donkey x horse = mule] fits the old genus paradigm since all are from the same genus - "equus."

Snake hybrids! Wow! That gives me the creeps! But your examples (ducks and snakes) indicate that crosses can occasionally occur between individuals of different a different genus.

Has anybody else taken an unusual wild hybrid duck?

[oltcutdown]

Yep, I've killed several black x mallard hybrids, and a gadwallxmallard cross last year. Just got the bird back from the taxidermist tonight. I'll post a pic of the mount tomorrow.

Here he is right after I killed him...

[oltcutdown]

I've heard of woodie mallard crosses, matter of fact, I know a fella in AR that has one mounted. Cool looking bird. Mallards are extremely aggressive and will try to copulate with any duck.

Here's a pic I found on the net of a wigeon x woodie cross.

[GMAC]

Now who all was THAT mixed up thing flying with?

[Birdfinder]

Mallard x black ,gadwall,pintail, woody. that nest predator bastard redhed i dont doubt it .

[justpracticin]

So how would it count for your limit?

[oltcutdown]

IMHO, it should be 'other'. Guess it depends on how much 'other' is in the woodpile?

[Aging Baby Boomer]

My son had bagged a wood duck and the mallard x wood duck hybrid....didn't see anything else but wood ducks that morning....so he didn't risk it. However, I would like to think that a conservation officer would use some discretion where it is clear that a hybrid is involved in the bag and where everything else is legal.

[KCM]

Saw blue wing crossed with a hollywood in the back of DU mag a couple months or maybe years ago. They had a wide range of hybrids in that article.

Only one I have seen killed in front of my very own eyes was a black/mallard in Mississippi. The guide offered the killer money for the duck to add to his collection at the lodge.

[oltcutdown]

Here's a link to the pics of the mount of my high yella bird. Brewer's duck mount