Name that duck...

[Kit]

On the canal we have a gang of mallards, but a few interlopers hang out with them as well. Some are mallard shaped and size, but with dark wings and white patches on their chest. There is also one pretty little duck, mainly white with irregular black patches, significantly smaller than the mallards and the beak is much shorter. He moves his head backwards and forwards, a bit like a pigeon. I say 'he' because he acts like a drake - very forward when it comes to arguing for food, and he does the long series of quacks that the mallard drakes do, but slightly faster and higher-pitched. Any idea what either of these two non-mallards might be?

[Cetti]

Kit - you've had me diving into my bird books but as yet cannot identify your little beauties - really need a bit more information regarding colour, length of tail, colour of beak etc. They could also be hybrids - if say an Aylesbury or the like has been hanging about with the Mallards for some time what you see now is the result!!

[Kit]

Thanks, both - on your advice I looked up "mallard hybrids" on Google, and found the exact duck on this page: http://www.pbase.com/cfagyal/minnesota_birds_ii (although it doesn't explain how it ended up on my canal!) So that clears up the darker ducks with white patches - I'll look at the little white chap in a bit more detail. I suspect he'll be a hybrid too, I haven't found anything else that looks like him. I'll post more info in a separate posting when I get more details, as this question will probably dro poff the end of the page soon!

[Cetti]

Hybrids aren't that unusual Kit, mostly they are escapees from a private collection and can turn up almost anywhere. This afternoon I had a look amongst the Canada Geese in our local park and saw Greylag Geese, Lesser White-Fronted and a pretty little Snow Goose living very happy together - so keep a close eye on your canal because as the weather gets colder you could have a few surprise visitors - and not hybrids either!!