Hybrid Ducks (gobirding.eu)

Hybrid Ducks

Ducks hybridise readily, in captivity and among wild bird populations. Identifying hybrids is fraught with difficulties. Not only are they highly variable but they do not always simply show a mix of each parent species' features. Indeed there are instances of hybrids bearing a more striking resemblance to a third species than to either of their two parent species.

The following hybrid combinations are discussed below (click on any to go straight there or scroll down):

Mallard x Egyptian Goose
Mallard x Muscovy Duck
(Eurasian) Wigeon x American Wigeon
(Eurasian) Teal x Green-winged Teal
domestic Mallard x Yellow-billed Duck
(Northern) Shoveler x Blue-winged Teal
Unknown hybrid - possibly Silver Teal x ??
Ferruginous Duck x ? Red Shoveler
Pochard x Ferruginous Duck
Pochard x Tufted Duck
Hooded Merganser x Smew

Mallard x Egyptian Goose

An unusual combination: this party of four birds was present at Swanton Morley from late August to late September 2007. There appear to be very few documented records of this hybrid.


4 Mallard x Egyptian Goose hybrids, Swanton Morley (Norfolk, UK), 27th August 2007





Mallard x Egyptian Geese (with a Ruddy Shelduck in top picture), Swanton Morley (Norfolk, UK), 1st September 2007

Mallard x Egyptian Geese, Swanton Morley (Norfolk, UK), 21st September 2007

Two birds reappeared the following February, presumably two of the same four although by this time one of them had a completely dark head:



Mallard x Egyptian Geese, Swanton Morley (Norfolk, UK), 23rd February 2008

Mallard x Egyptian Goose, Swanton Morley (Norfolk, UK), 24th March 2008	Mallard x Egyptian Goose, Bylaugh (Norfolk, UK), 13th July 2008



Mallard x Egyptian Geese, Swanton Morley (Norfolk, UK), 9th August 2008 (upper 2 in this set are one bird, lower 4 another; I am not certain if these are the same ones that I've been seeing intermittently here and nearby at Bylaugh since February - I haven't seen all 4 together since last September)

Mallard x Egyptian Geese, Swanton Morley (Norfolk, UK), 20th September 2008	Mallard x Egyptian Geese, Swanton Morley (Norfolk, UK), 16th August 2008

Mallard x Egyptian Geese, 27th December 2008

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Mallard x Muscovy Duck

Domestic Muscovy Ducks often hybridise with Mallards (themselves frequently domestic). Personally I've rarely encountered them in the flesh, but there is an abundance of photos on the internet. Many are obvious but I'd overlooked this one as a domestic variant of Mallard until Joern pointed it out.


Probable domestic Mallard x domestic Muscovy Duck hybrid, Salthouse (Norfolk, UK), 16th February 2008

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(Eurasian) Wigeon x American Wigeon

Many reported American Wigeons in Europe turn out to be hybrids, whilst in North America the reverse is true - many reported Eurasian Wigeons are in fact hybrids. It is perfectly within the normal range of variation for Eurasian Wigeon to show a small green area behind the eye but the extent of the green band on the following bird is certainly not normal.

Nevertheless, although some Eurasian x American Wigeon hybrids can appear very similar to this bird there are usually more clues to a hybrid origin than here (such as pink bleeding into the grey body, speckled lores/ear-coverts, etc.). The extent of the green head band is the only atypical feature (the small triangle of green at the rear of the yellow forecrown was also originally considered unusual but further study has established that this occurs on a minority of apparently pure Eurasian Wigeons), so I have, with the help of others, eventually decided that this bird is probably an unusual but pure Eurasian Wigeon. The possibility that it is a second or subsequent generation hybrid is still not ruled out though, and any further comments on this bird would be very welcome!

American Wigeon is not the only species that could potentially hybridise with Eurasian Wigeon producing this feature and even if it is a hybrid, the identification as Eurasian x American Wigeon would be tentative.



Probably just an unusual Eurasian Wigeon, but perhaps a hybrid (not F1), Pentney (Norfolk, UK), 31st March 2009

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(Eurasian) Teal x Green-winged Teal

Hybrids between the North American Green-winged Teal and its Eurasian counterpart are occasionally found in either region. Some show the prominent white vertical bar of Green-winged Teal as well as the prominent white horizontal stripe of Eurasian Teal whilst others, like this one, show a much weaker vertical bar and others can apparently be even more cryptic.


Hybrid (Eurasian) Teal x Green-winged Teal, Salthouse (Norfolk, UK), 10th February 2008

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Domestic Mallard x Yellow-billed Duck

These two ducks almost certainly emanate from captivity as they share a duckpond with a variety of escaped (or deliberately released) ducks. The first one resembles a Yellow-billed Duck but several inconsistencies including the green on the head and the curled tail feathers indicate some Mallard influence. The pale colouration of the second bird suggests that the Mallard influence was of domestic stock, which is not surprising given the number of domestic birds sharing the pond.



domestic Mallard x Yellow-billed Duck hybrids, Porthloo Duckpond, St Mary's (Scilly, UK), 3rd October 2007

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Shoveler x Blue-winged Teal

This individual spent a few months at Titchwell. Its appearance is extremely similar to Australasian Shoveler Anas rhynchotis, a photograph of which appears beside it for comparison.


male Shoveler x Blue-winged Teal hybrid, Titchwell (Norfolk, UK), 7th April 2001	captive male Australasian Shoveler for comparison, Blakeney Collection (Norfolk, UK), 18th January 2004

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Unknown hybrid - possibly Silver Teal x Tufted Duck

This duck was reported on 23rd Feb as a presumed Teal x Tufted Duck. Thinking this sounded interesting I went along to see it the next day. I'm not convinced by the proposed ID but am not at all sure what it is. My initial view was that the similarities to Hottentot Teal were too great to be coincidental, but Silver Teal is also a possible parent. David Russell has kindly informed me that an escaped Silver Teal was present at the site the previous August - this may be coincidental but with little else to go on it's enough to change my speculative view. The second parent is even more speculative, though Tufted Duck is certainly a possibility I can't rule out. Other comments would be welcome. Unfortunately it was a bit too distant for decent shots; my best efforts are here with some commentary below:


hybrid duck, Cantley Beet Factory (Norfolk, UK), 24th February 2008. Most obvious feature is the pale cheeks contrasting with the dark crown (coming down round eye) and nape. Also note the Pintail-like bill, quite pale bluish grey with a dark culmen. Dark on the face at the base of the bill, bulging at the gape. One or two photos seem to show a red eye, but the quality isn't clear enough to be sure - this wasn't noticed in the field. The white trailing edge to the secondaries was sometimes visible on the closed wing.

hybrid duck, Cantley Beet Factory (Norfolk, UK), 24th February 2008. Note the rather plain dark brown back contrasting with the plain-ish paler brown flanks. The contrast always seemed stronger when the bird was facing slightly away, as in the right hand photo here. Note the curvature of this border - rather Aythya like? Tail often held flat against the water like the diving ducks but often in the air where appeared quite pointy.

hybrid duck, Cantley Beet Factory (Norfolk, UK), 24th February 2008. With Teals for size comparison - pretty much the same size - seemed a fraction larger in the field.

hybrid duck, Cantley Beet Factory (Norfolk, UK), 24th February 2008. This bird was constantly feeding. It never dived but held its head further under than most dabbling ducks tend to.

hybrid duck, Cantley Beet Factory (Norfolk, UK), 24th February 2008. Rubbish flight shots but show how conspicuous the white trailing edge to the secondaries was. Underwing appeared quite pale but precise pattern not clinched.

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Ferruginous Duck x Anas sp., perhaps Red Shoveler

This one was a captive bird; the Anas parent was uncertain but if we assume the parent was still in the same collection (which isn't the case for at least one hybrid seen there) then the most likely choice (in view of the bill shape) is Red Shoveler.


Captive hybrid Ferruginous Duck x Anas sp., possibly Red Shoveler, Blakeney Collection (Norfolk, UK), 28th February 2009

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Pochard x Ferruginous Duck

This hybrid is responsible for a few erroneous claims of Ferruginous Duck in the UK - they seem to turn up here nearly as often as pure Ferruginous Ducks. Some can apparently be more similar to Redhead in appearance.





male Pochard x Ferruginous Duck hybrid, Martham Broad (Norfolk, UK), 29th November 2009

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Pochard x Tufted Duck

Probably the commonest naturally-occurring duck hybrid in the UK.



male Pochard x Tufted Duck hybrid (with Tufted Ducks), Swanton Morley (Norfolk, UK), 27th December 2008

male Pochard x Tufted Duck hybrid (presumably the same as above), Swanton Morley (Norfolk, UK), 30th December 2008

male Pochard x Tufted Duck hybrid, Welney (Norfolk, UK), 2nd January 2005

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Hooded Merganser x Smew

I believe this hybrid has occurred in the wild but these ones are captive. These birds (there were two the same, not sure if they're both here or not) didn't look exactly like other Hooded Merganser x Smew hybrids I've seen photographed before so thanks to Joern for confirming their identities.


captive male Hooded Merganser x Smew hybrid, Blakeney Collection (Norfolk, UK), 11th April 2009

captive male Hooded Merganser x Smew hybrid, Blakeney Collection (Norfolk, UK), 26th April 2009

captive male Hooded Merganser x Smew hybrid, Blakeney Collection (Norfolk, UK), 13th February 2010

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