Duck Watcher!
So I'm interested in the local ducks - they have so much variety! But also quite aware of their evil, rapey hybridisation ways. Mallards x Pacific Black Ducks, particularly.
I'm loving this project - dob in your feral ducks: https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/mallards-hybrids-in-australia
There's also this worldwide one:
https://inaturalist.ala.org.au/projects/muddled-ducks
So for the minute this is just where I'm keeping links to papers/articles I think are interesting.
A great article showing ways to spot a hybrid from ebird aus:
https://ebird.org/australia/news/identifying-mallard-x-pacific-black-duck-hybrids
I really found Tamieka's collection of iNaturalist sightings helpful when thinking about the variety of ducks out there in hybrid land:
https://inaturalist.ala.org.au/journal/tamika_lunn/50373-differentiating-ducks-native-mallard-and-mallard-hybrids
The end of this paper has a great range of images of the diversity of heads and wings of PBDxMallard hybrids, and recognises a spectrum.
https://www.birdsnz.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Williams_66_45-63.pdf
Excepting the Muscovy, domestic breeds of ducks are mallards, in the same way very diverse looking dog breeds are all the same species. This helped me think more about the wild variety of forms I see at my local lake. Here's a list of domestic breeds for further investigation:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_duck_breeds
And breed image tiles including size/weight of ducks:
https://poultrykeeper.com/duck-breeds/
And a quick look poster showing 16 mallard breeds:
https://www.etsy.com/au/listing/492718966/a4-posters-breeds-of-ducks
1992 S.Aus paper showing facial markings:
http://birdssa.asn.au/images/saopdfs/Volume31/1992V31P103.pdf
To get into other duck hybrids:
Mallards vs Muscovies:
https://inaturalist.ca/journal/that_bug_guy/71906-mallard-x-muscovy-duck-way-out-waterfowl
