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Woody drake?
- Thread starter Randall 80
- Start date
27metalman
Senior Member
That is neat. Never seen that either. A mutation or maybe a male that can't reproduce? Hopefully someone will post that knows.
T-N-T
Senior Member
That's cool.
Randall 80
Member
I don't have a pic of the body. It was the same color and size as the other drakes, just the head was different.
across the river
Senior Member
It seems way to late in the year for it, but I would have to say that is just an immature drake. They will have the yellow eye lid, white around their eye, and dull bill when they are pluming out from the duckling feathers. It does seem out though that he has completely gotten his colors this late in the year.
little rascal
Senior Member
Juvie
Might have been born late.
Probably this^^^^^^^ they call them Summer Ducks.
Might have been born late.
ugaringneck
Member
possibility of it being an XXY duck? basically a hermaphrodite... the amount of white feathering that is around that eye, and the solid yellow eyelid, is not like an eclipse drake... it's plumage of a hen, while obviously other indicators show plumage of a drake. maybe biologically it's both?
across the river
Senior Member
The first year drakes have a yellow eyed lid and the white feathers around it until they start to plume out. The eye also starts out brow and turn red as it develops. Like I said earlier, it seems late to still have that plumage, but the white feathers and yellow eyelids are absolutely found on young drakes before and during their first molt. I've never seen it on a older "eclipse" drake. Here is one picture of many you can find on the internet.
http://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-no...k-aix-sponsa-in-eclipse-plumage-82175794.html
He would of been a good one next year. 
Thanks for sharing. Enjoyed the convo of what it is.
Thanks for sharing. Enjoyed the convo of what it is.
ugaringneck
Member
Still saying, there’s a discernible difference between drake eclipse (young or not) and what this duck is
Eclipse drake:
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-r3eI-4iSeiA/UiIXI4D14LI/AAAAAAAAJmY/MeYv6iIPn9Y/s1600/IMG_5696.JPG
http://www.danielslim.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/portrait-drake-wood-duck.jpg
https://objects.liquidweb.services/images/201407/bill_hubick_wood_duck_calvert_md_20080816.jpg
http://homeforaday.org/gallery/birds/waterfowl/ducks/dabblers/wd/young_wood_ducks.jpg
Meanwhile, intersex wood ducks/hermaphroditism/extra X chromosome
https://c1.staticflickr.com/4/3938/15627560055_1aff1a3965_b.jpg
http://northwestbirding.com/Images14Oct/dawson_creek_wood_duck_intersex_10-19-14.jpg
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7349/12507975455_61a2762b02.jpg
Looks an awful lot like the one poster shot...
BaldofPate
Member
It might be one of those millennial, left wing, Bernie Sanders drakes. You know, the ones that still haven't figured out if they want to be a dude or have surgery and be a split tail.
across the river
Senior Member
Between the two of us we posted three different pictures of birds that looked just like his from various places. I would find it very difficult to believe there are that many pictures floating around the internet of hermaphrodite woodducks. I guess it is possible it could be an old hen /injured hen that started developing male plumage, but she is looking almost too much like a drake for that to be real probable. The bottom line is we will never know for sure unless he sent it out for testing. Oh, and by the way, birds don't have X and Y chromosomes.
ugaringneck
Member
You win the point on the chromosomes... ZZ vs ZW says google... but you don’t win the point on that being a young eclipse... It’s just undeniably not what they look like... there’s something else happening here than the duck just being late to fully plume
MullisCC
Member
I’m a little late on this but I’ll share what I found. I’m no biologist but I killed one just like yours a few years back and was stumped. The best explanation that I found was that birds by default carry the male plumage but the hormones in the females dull the plumage to help nesting birds hide from predators. A hen with little or no estrogen for whatever reason will trend back toward a male colored plumage. The bill color will tell you male or female. Hope this helps.
mlandrum
Senior Member
I believe it is LBERAL-DEMOCRATIC induced species 
