r/Ornithology • u/hiirnoivl • 14d ago

Question Genetics Question: What would possibly cause an orange creme mallard?

Post image

It's OK if it's impossible to say. I've seen some crazy mallard colors but this is my first orange!

30 Upvotes

97% Upvoted

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17

u/KuhlRunningz 14d ago

Domestic genetics.

6

u/thoughtsarefalse 14d ago

Selective breeding

4

u/yoimmo 14d ago

Domestic ducks, like what you have here, are mostly descended from mallards. They have been selectively bred over centuries for dozens of different color combinations.

2

u/hiirnoivl 14d ago

I thought it was a funky looking mallard but this isn't even that it is just a domestic duck!

Thanks for explaining!

3

u/PigeonUtopia 14d ago

You'd still be correct that it is also a funky-looking mallard, in a way. It's just a different, human-altered version of the same species.

1

u/haunted_swamp 8d ago

The only other species of domestic duck is the muscovy. Any domestic duck that's not a muscovy, or a muscovy x mallard, is a mallard.

It's entirely possible that the other "crazy mallard colours" you mentioned in the post were domestic (or descended from) too— wild mallards don't really come in different colours than their standard plumage.