Weird cross between vulture and duck!? (1 Viewer)

[Bradshutes]

I snapped some photos of this creature this afternoon. Anyone know what it is?

Brad

 

[Bradshutes]

Ah..... It's a Muscovy duck!

http://www.mstech.com.au/staff/alison_fisher/muscovy.htm

 

[Michael Frankis]

Hi Brad,

Welcome to BirdForum!

That's a domestic Muscovy Duck, escaped from a poultry farm.

Wild Muscovy Ducks occur in South America, and are all black apart from a white patch on the wings; the head and neck is black, not like the domestic one here.

Michael

 

[streatham]

This is also a domestic bird. The wild muscovy is sometimes found on the Texas border with Mexico and are black with a white wing patch - with less of distinct black bare facial patch. The domestic birds range from pure white to black.

 

[Bradshutes]

Thanks for the welcome Michael.

I found this duck harassing customers as they enter the convenience store in my neighborhood. It was chasing people and leaving "deposits" on the sidewalk. Very entertaining! I have a video too.

Do you think this is a family pet that got loose?

 

[streatham]

Beat me to it Michael - although they are present on parts of the Rio Grande in the US. You said they are S.American birds does that mean that they were introduced in Mexico as the US birds come from there.

Luke

 

[Michael Frankis]

Hi Luke,

I'm not sure; they have been spreading slowly north naturally, one of my older books maps them north only to southern Mexico. But the colonisation northward through Mexico to Texas could have been helped by released birds.

Michael

 

[Michael Frankis]

Do you think this is a family pet that got loose?

Hi Brad,

It could be that, or from a poultry farm. But it certainly seems to know how to get food

Michael

 

[streatham]

Hi Michael - thank - that makes sense - interesting to know - i knew that there were released birds in northern mexico - just wasn't sure if they were designed to replenish a population or artificially create one.

 

[gthang]

Hey, Brad welcome to the forum!

You'll never guess what kind of bird I saw one time roaming through the woods near a rural back road... it looked like a turkey from afar, but the closer I got, the whiter it was. Turned out it was a Helmeted Guineafowl, Native to Asia I believe (correct me if I'm wrong!). The Helmeted Guineafowl was deliberately introduced into North America for hunting purposes...

 

[Michael Frankis]

Hi Gthang,

Turned out it was a Helmeted Guineafowl, Native to Asia I believe (correct me if I'm wrong!)

Africa

 

[gthang]

Sorry, I have Junior Alzheimer's!

 

[Rasmus Boegh]

I'm not sure; they have been spreading slowly north naturally, one of my older books maps them north only to southern Mexico. But the colonisation northward through Mexico to Texas could have been helped by released birds.

Hi Michael (and others),

It is (and was) found naturally north as far as Nuevo Leon & southern Sinaloa (both in Mexico). In both cases along the slopes, as it needs relatively well-wooded areas to survive. It never did occur in the central ranges of Mexico or the US even though they were largely forested until recently. This is due to the wild variation being basically tropical; i.e. the central ranges and the US are too cold - at least in the winter. As you probably know, the domesticated variations are much better at coping with cold. The natural population was largely extirpated in the northern part of its range, but is now starting to re-settle the old ares due to nest-boxes etc. Even though these birds have been known to move far, southern US is probably too far from their natural range, and I seriously doubt those cases are anything but the result of (semi-)domesticated and/or released birds.

- And a final note on the name of this thread: "Weird cross between vulture and duck!?". This is - so far - the only thread where I have guessed the ID of the bird just by reading the headline

 

[Bradshutes]

- And a final note on the name of this thread: "Weird cross between vulture and duck!?". This is - so far - the only thread where I have guessed the ID of the bird just by reading the headline

LOL. Yup. I guess I left little doubt!

Thanks to all for the warm welcomes. I plan to revisit the forum often.

Brad

 

[Bradshutes]

Sorry, I have Junior Alzheimer's!

Also known as Some-timers.

 

[Bkwdesign]

Well, I realize this thread is 18 years old, but I would like to add that my 9 yo and I were on a bike ride in our west suburban neighborhood of Cleveland, Ohio - much further north than previously discussed- and saw 4 of these strange animals in an adjacent development that has some built in marsh areas.

we also called them vulture-ducks.

Weirdest animals I’ve ever seen around here

 

[KC Foggin]

Just a beautiful Muscovy Duck.

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