Duck identification
May 17, 2019 17:24:49 #
There is a small pond with a very small rocky island within our condo complex and today, as I drove by I, saw a solid black, small duck on one of the rocks on the island. At first glance, I thought it was a crow but it had a very long neck, so I decided, no, it wasn't a crow. It was definitely a duck, but smaller than the mallards that usually are found there. I looked up black ducks and all I could come up with was a Black Runner. Supposedly, though, they do not fly. Do any of you who are birdwatchers have an idea of what kind of duck this might be? Unfortunately, I did not have my camera with me.
May 17, 2019 17:33:28 #
2Dragons wrote:
There is a small pond with a very small rocky isla... (show quote)
Go find that duck with camera in hand.
May 18, 2019 02:25:36 #
May 18, 2019 07:41:46 #
2Dragons wrote:
There is a small pond with a very small rocky isla... (show quote)
Did it look like this?
May 18, 2019 07:43:51 #
May 18, 2019 08:09:34 #
Sirsnapalot wrote:
Did it look like this?
Ha, Ha! Right color, wrong duck.May 18, 2019 08:19:12 #
wbchinook wrote:
Could it be a cormorant?
No, not a cormorant. We've had those in the pond before and they are pretty distinctive. What struck me as strange was the angle at which this duck's head and neck were slanted. Pretty much straight up without the curve that you normally see with ducks. That particular oddity was evident with the Black Runner ducks that are domestic ducks that can't fly. They're used primarily as egg layers. Apparently, once in a while one does take off, but can't fly far. This is a picture I found online that illustrates how the duck that I saw held his/her head.
https://www.efowl.com/shop/black-indian-runner-ducks-metzer/
May 18, 2019 08:31:23 #
2Dragons wrote:
There is a small pond with a very small rocky isla... (show quote)
Maybe a black rubber ducky
May 18, 2019 08:45:11 #
Kmgw9v wrote:
Go find that duck with camera in hand.
I did go back with my camera and waited for quite a while, but did not see the black duck again.
May 18, 2019 08:49:48 #
May 18, 2019 10:04:12 #
olddutch wrote:
Mud Hen????
No. Mud Hens have whitish colored bills and the one I saw had a black bill.
May 18, 2019 10:26:38 #
May 18, 2019 11:57:19 #
Sirsnapalot wrote:
Did it look like this?
Yes yes!!! that's it!!!
It could be a Coot.
May 18, 2019 15:00:06 #
May 18, 2019 16:51:36 #
GeneS wrote:
Sounds like an American coot or Black scoter
I checked out both of those online and both the coot and scoter have pale colored bills and the Black Scoter description is of a very large sea-going duck and the one I saw was smaller than a mallard but not as small as a Mandarin. The duck I saw definitely had a black bill. You've all been great with your responses, but until I get a picture of that peculiar little duck we won't know. I checked again today, twice to see if it was still on the pond, but no luck.
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