Knowledgebase

Please identify this duck. #780622

Asked January 22, 2022, 12:10 PM EST

A new duck joined the 30-some that frequent our property on Back River in Essex. It has blue-grey feet and bill. I haven't been able to find anything that looks like it in various bird identification books. Thanks for any info you can provide.

Baltimore County Maryland

Expert Response

Although we aren't bird ID experts (given our home horticulture focus), this appears to be either a Northern Pintail or a Pintail-Mallard hybrid. (They're in the same genus, and Mallards are known to hybridize with a number of other ducks in the same genus.) Here are a few additional images for comparison: https://ebird.org/species/x00628

Miri

Thank you for your response and I'm sorry that my question went to the Master Gardener queue.  I actually chose the "ask extension" link from the Natural Resources/Wildlife page.  

The Question Asker Replied January 25, 2022, 10:55 AM EST

You're welcome. If you would like a second opinion of the bird's ID, and if you participate in social media, groups like MD Birding on Facebook, for example, contain experienced birders who may recognize this plumage pattern.

We apologize for the confusion and recognize that the inclusion of the Ask Extension link may be ambiguous on a wildlife page. All Ask Extension links lead to the same submission form, which goes into a single queue. (The "send your gardening questions" subtitle is admittedly visually subtle, and "yard and garden questions" does imply we may have expertise in non-gardening subjects.)

Miri

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