There are these handsome ducks that hang out with the Mallards who aren’t Mallards. In a flock of 200 Mallards today I saw 2 that were different, they look like female Mallards but much darker and their feet are a different color. This is a Black Duck. My friend says that when he would come down here as a kid there would be 200 Black Ducks and only 2 Mallards.
They can bread together and I know that there is one hybrid in this flock, but I can never spot him. I’ve heard that he looks like a female Mallard with a male Mallard’s green head. And I’ve seen people online getting excited about what they call transgender ducks. (Menopausal ducks revert to male duck plumage! But that’s not what transgender is.) I want to spend more time with them so my eyes get better at seeing them. They are such happy little creatures and don’t seem to mind me standing around.
The Biophilium 