A wander in a big ol' park

[julian]

I was going to go down to the Rhode Island shore yesterday, but I got off a little late, so I changed plans mid-stream and stopped at Roger Williams Park instead, which in in the middle of Providence and has a zoo in it, but also has this wonderful series of lakes and ponds that I hung around, instead.

I met this guy hanging out with some other mallards. There's always the possibility, given his proximity to the zoo, that he's an escaped something-else, but I'm pretty sure he's just an abnormally colored mallard.



At one point, some mallards had a turf fight.





One mallard retreats, post haste.



The other mallard huffily (or triumphantly) settles his feathers.



Chickadee in flight.



I'm pretty sure this guy's a sparrow of some kind. Maybe a warbler, but I doubt it. Anyway: Seed.



And now, In Search Of More Seed.



This here's a Campbell Duck, probably. (I always thought they were just Puddle Ducks, but apparently not.) They're not native to the area (they're a UK variant), but then again, they're pretty common, and there's a bunch of them that live in Boston. But she too may be a zoo inhabitant gone rogue. (ETA: Or, more likely, a Pekin Duck.)

Comments

[cmcmck]

Great pics!

[yourlibrarian]

Love that you caught the triumphant wing flap, and also the upside down birdie snacking :)

[cyprinella]

Your weird ducks look like someone's escaped (or dumped :( ) domestic mallards. The black one looks like a drake from one of the black and white breeds like a Swedish or Ancona, and the white is most likely a Pekin, given his size.

[shirebound]

I enjoyed all of these. Thanks for the great pics.

[julian]

Oh, hey, Pekin would make sense. Certainly more than a UK bird.

Having finally looked up what ducks Roger Williams Zoo has, yes, does seem more likely they're dumped from elsewhere. Alas. But at least they've found friends.

[julian]

The upside down guy was great, I have about 7 pictures of him manuevering to find Moar Seeds.

[julian]

Y'welcome!

[julian]

Thankee, ma'am.

[cyprinella]

Yeah, with ducks the domestic breeds are all descended either from mallards or muscovy ducks (the ones with gnarly red faces kinda like turkeys) and can still interbreed and interact with their wild counterparts. Although all of the muscovy populations in the US are feral as the species originates in Central and South America.

Oh, and I think your sparrow/warbler is an American goldfinch in winter plumage. Or at least that's what ours look like in Virginia.

[alatefeline]

Mallards hybridize often with other duck species, including domesticated breeds that are more likely to have white spots.

https://www.birds.cornell.edu/crows/domducks.htm

The flock in the pond in my family’s neighborhood (US) is a mix of many mallards, a few larger white ducks that seem to be feral domestic birds, and a number of oversized and variously off-color mallard hybrids.

[alatefeline]

Thank you for the great pictures!

[nanila]

The quest for seed is never-ending. As is the mallard's capacity for belligerence.

[julian]

I was wondering about the ones I'm currently running into a lot, mergansers, but then it occurred to me, they're not *domestic*. So that explains their not being part of the extended mallard family.

And aha. Goldfinch. That'd explain the beak...

[julian]

*quack* quack quack quack *QUACK*!