7 replies to this topic

[docmon]

Hi there,

There's a new pair of birds that have taken up residence of sorts in our backyard. These are definitely ducks, as far as I know, because of their webbed feet. But other than that, they look more chicken-like. We're all quite mystefied by them and I thought I'd find out what they are. Please bear with my description, as I'm not a bird-watcher by any means.

One of them is primarily brown, though I believe the front is more of a cream color. The most distinguishing feature is its bright red head. Hence the chicken-look. The other duck is primarily the same sort of off-white, with I believe specks of brown, though I didn't get as good a look at it.

That's the information I have. I live in New York, lower Hudson Valley. Any help is appreciated!

mon

[David Lukas]

Well I'm tempted to go out on a limb and guess that your bird is something like a Ring-necked Pheasant simply because it has a bright red head and looks much like a chicken. Is this even close? I know you said your birds have webbed feet like a duck but I don't know of any red-headed ducks that would be in a backyard. Are your birds associated with water in any way, or do they wander on the lawn?

David Lukas and Simone Whitecloud

[docmon]

Thanks for responding.

Well, nice try, but I'm afraid it's not the pheasant, b/c it didn't have the long tail or the green ring around the neck. The brown pattern on the body wasn't as varied as a pheasant's either. It was very evenly brown. And definitely webbed feet. Regarding water, one side of my property runs along a creek that leads to a pond only two houses away, and there's not really any obstacles between. Canadian geese often camp out in the property next to us, wandering into our yard regularly. So ducks are not uncommonor improbable. Only this duck (if that's what it is)!

I'm going to try to take a picture of it. Maybe that will help.

monica

[David Lukas]

Yeah, I figured that pheasant was way off the mark, but I wanted to clear this up before narrowing the search down to the ducks. However, if you can take a photo that would help a ton. Let us know!

David and Simone

[KingstonOntarioBirder]

Maybe it is a domestic duck commonly found on farms, may have escaped.

 

 

 

 

[admin]

Dear KingstonOntarioBirder

I'm not sure if this is it, but I'm see an image icon in your replay that appears to be an upload from your desktop. We have turned  attachements off in this forum so if you would like  present an image, its best to post it in the forum and then create a link to it and add that.

[KingstonOntarioBirder]

Understood, heres a link of a duck that could be said to resemble a chicken.

http://www.feathersi...BRKScobies.html

 

 

 

[docmon]

Thanks for the reply!

This duck is similar to what I've seen, although "mine" had red over most of its head, and was brown. But the description in this link says chocolate is one of the color possibilities, so it's still possible. It also said the female was much smaller, which also seemed to be the case (although we didn't know which was which). We haven't seen them lately, so them may have moved on.

I have a digital picture - of very poor quality, from too far away - that I've been meaning to put here. It may help confirm whether or not this suggestion is the one. Hopefully I'll be able to do that soon. And correctly!

Thanks again! You may have solved the mystery!

monica