Talk:Muscovy Duck

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[edit] Muscovy Duck's Dark Side

The Muscovy Duck breeds in urban and suburban lakes and on farms throughout Florida. Apparently, no pair bond is established, at least among domesticated Muscovy Ducks. Matings are promiscuous and a form of rape, where the male overpowers the female. They nest in tree cavities or on the ground. In suburban and urban areas, they nest under shrubs in yards or on condominium balconies or under roof overhangs. It is said that each adult duck produces about 1/3-pound of dung per day. They have been known to mate with wild Mallard Ducks, creating another nuisance.

In many places, these large, ungainly birds are considered pests due to aggressive panhandling and because they defecate in swimming pools and on patios and docks. They feed on aquatic plants, grasses, seeds, insects, and on human handouts, such as bread.

In Florida they are now considered "invasive". They are protected in Florida by Statute 828.12, which makes shooting or hurting them in anyway punishable by law. Suggested means to curtail them within the law 1) Stop feeding them 2) Repel and harass with low noises or by chasing 3) Control flock size by locating nests and vigorously shaking eggs to render inviable. Return eggs to nest so hen won't renest. Sfpc 12:44, 1 June 2006 (UTC)

I removed the text reposted above by user:sfpc from the article for the following reasons
Three problems.
  1. The clutch size and incubation time already occurs earlier in the article. If you disagree with the figures, change them, don't just add a contradictory section
  2. talk of promiscuity and rape is very POV, imposing human values on a bird which acts from instinct and is incapable of making moral judgments.
  3. The bit on Florida is rather parochial for a species with such a large range, but my main concern with that section is that putting in suggestions is non-enc. I suppose that it could be reinstated if rephrased eg "legal methods of control include..."
Hope this help - the whole article needs a good tidy really. jimfbleak 05:15, 1 June 2006 (UTC)
My feelings about above -
I live in Florida and have lived with these ducks for quite a while. Like any invasive species to the state, being plant or animal, they should be controlled. I know that currently my neighbors are fighting over whether they should go or stay. My one and only fear is that the population explosion is causing a health hazard for the children. My entries were only added to the article to supply more information about this duck. I would hope that user:jimfbleak would correct any problems with these entries instead of using the tactic of "reverting"! Sfpc 12:44, 1 June 2006 (UTC)
Fair enough, I'll do a tidy and partial restore, but not just at the moment - got to mow the lawn in a few minutes.
jimfbleak 13:42, 1 June 2006 (UTC)
Done now. jimfbleak 05:42, 2 June 2006 (UTC)

Thank you user:jimfbleak for taking the time to update and format the Muscovy Duck entry to reflect the status of this duck in Florida. Sfpc 20:48, 2 June 2006 (UTC)

I also live in Florida on a small pond where unfortunately people want everything to be manicured. So this includes "trapping" and removing the muscovy ducks. Much of their fear is based on all the diseases they supposedly carry. Guess what, it's hogwash. Don't believe me check out this link. http://www.duckhaven.org/page9.html

Would somebody mind checking out the bit about "Sir Hugo of Trumpington" in this article? I was not sure about the sentence previous to that one, and therefore haven't done the cutting myself.

I am a new person to the sight and would think that I would learn something form it, that was my intention. However, I feel the responsibility for adding to the information that you have posted. We are talking about anamils here, and not ones that are endangered. I live in south Texas and there is not an abundance of Muskovy ducks here. Therefore, I do not have the problems that thoes persons in Florida have. Probably the oposit. I had to hunt through many places in this state before I found a place where I could purchase my Muscovis. I did find a man near me that had Muscovi ducks but didn't know what they were. From the first 4 that I got, two males and two females I have had as many as 35 ducks in my pen at one time. Because I have them in a controled environment, I can observe them quite closely. Please read and correct if you think my findings are not correct. There is one male that is dominent. He controls all the other males. Though he is the dominent male, one female is the leader of the clutch. She will be the first one to leave the pen to explore the yard, to enter the garden, to find the bugs near the roots of the plants. When she returns to the pen, all others follow. Taken from what was written earlier, "They feed on aquatic plants, grasses, seeds, insects, and on human handouts, such as bread." My ducks are deprived of aquatic plants, but they do eat the seeds of the grass, prefering to eat only the tender parts of Bermuda grass. They scroung heartly for bugs, mostly sow bugs, near the roots of the grass. They love dryrott wood and will eliminate it completely if they have the access to it. They are drawn to styrofome and will eliminate it in a short time. I was very worrried when I saw this occuring but had no way to stop it and observed that they did not become ill and were quite well after word. The ducks reach maturity in 6 months, atleast the male do and if you provide them with dog food, will reach a 8 to 10lbs by this time, females from 6 to 8 lbs. I have found that they are intelegent enough to learn routines. Time for feeding for sure but they know when I carry vegitable parts to throw in their pen after supper. In the pen, they hide their eggs even though the pen is small and it is comon to see two hens in the same nest at the same time laying eggs together.

That's interesting. I didn't know they loved dryrot wood so much. Is it because bugs burrow in it, do you think? These ducks can get pretty vicious though, so be careful. When I was a child, I was holding a roll (bread) in my hand and one duck flew up and snatched it, biting part of my nail off in the process. What's worse is my grandma used iodine to clean me up afterward. Oh, and remember to end your messages on discussions with four tildas ("~"). This puts your signature at the end of your post. Cyborg Ninja 06:05, 19 February 2007 (UTC)

The clock is ticking - when will the Muscovy duck cross the line from being just a duck to a full blown nuance! Currently the ducks in my area have become nothing but panhandlers, waddling through the neighborhood looking for birdfeeders to live off of. They have given up using their natural desire for food they are suppose to be eating. It is only a matter of time before they become nothing more than a domestic farm animal and then all of the things written in the main article will be a laugh. I live with them everyday, observing their demise first hand! —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Sfpc (talk • contribs) 03:02, 27 March 2007 (UTC).

[edit] Humane feral duck population management

I don't think this section (which mainly seems to be a set of instructions) has any place in this article at all. Any thoughts? CiaranG 20:37, 1 December 2006 (UTC)

From what I have read, the best bet is to locate a nest prior to a hen sitting. The eggs can be vigorously shaken, marked and returned to the nest at this time without any suffering to an embryo. If eggs are shaken once a hen has begun to sit, this may result in deformed ducklings. Sudden removal of a nest will just permit the hen to begin the mating and laying cycle that much sooner. She will then lay in a different location.mrvax 23:34, 7 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] grooming?

Does anyone know if these ducks (or if all ducks) groom each other? A little gang of these guys live in a pond right in front of my apartment. Often I watch one of them sort of sit on top of another in the water and peck at him/her. It almost looks like murder (the first time I saw it, I ran outside to watch).. but the other duck eventually comes back up. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Ryan Heuser (talk • contribs) 19:26, 7 December 2006 (UTC).

I have never seen what you described, but, if it helps, the first two Muscovy ducks I ever saw in my life (two males, perhaps brothers), who lived in the park, would sometimes groom each another. However, this occurred peacefully and on land. 62.194.121.100 12:11, 23 December 2006 (UTC)

The 1st comment above about "them sort of sit on top of another in the water and peck at him/her.", probably refers to them mating. The ducks I have observed groom themselves and take frequent baths.mrvax 23:37, 7 March 2007 (UTC)

Another explanation for one Muscovy sitting on another is "pecking order." I own Muscovys and they are females. I observe this behavior daily. I have speculated that they are mimicking mating behavior as well. Both could be true as in many animal groups mating activity is used to establish dominance. As far as grooming, like some other bird species my Muscovys do groom each other. They groom each other less than some, but more than other bird species. Some (but not all) of the grooming behavior appears to establish dominance. Victorcoutin 10:20, 21 April 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Muscovy Ducks in my pen in south Texas

Because my ducks are in a pened up environment, I believe I can observe them closer then most people can or do. In my last entry to this sight, I told about the pecking order of the Muscovies that I have. My Alfa male does not fly, he is too big. The females can fly and do leave the pen only to get me into trouble with my neighbors. The beta duck has learned to traverse the fence so that he is with the females but because of the chainlink fence, will not mate in view of the alfa. Yet if he is behind a solid object that alfa can not see him, he will.

When there was a change in the flock, I gave several of my ducks to a friend that had a pond, I noticed that the females were in a disturbed state and I hung around to watch the event. This next part took almost a whole day and I think it probably went on into the next day also. One female was chasing another, not a fast chase, with plenty of feather pulling and emitting a "bonk" kind of sound from deep in her throat. I could see no movement of the neck or area of the head. The sound was very clear, like you would tap on a drum. This female became the new leader of the flock. She also became a big problem because she could fly and led all the females that could fly into the neighbors yards.

One of the females built a nest in an empty box on my porch. I did not want this duck on my porch so I removed the duck from the nest, collected 6 eggs and took the box out to the pen so that she could nest there. The nest 4 days, she was back on my porch looking for her nest. She would leave the porch only to return a little while later looking again for the nest. I enjoy the ducks but realize that I do not know enough about their life cycle to be able to tell you more. 1/24/07 —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 64.132.16.26 (talk) 02:27, 26 January 2007 (UTC).

As far as mating habits go, I agree that each area has an alpha male. I live on a lake in Orlando Florida. Sometimes another male will stop by and challenge the alpha male to fight. I often see the alpha interrupt one of "his" hens while mating with another duck. At other times, the alpha male will standby vocalizing but not chasing the "new" male away. I really haven't seen any hen behavior consistant with an "alpha female".

One time a particular female that was laying and just about ready to sit, was mating several times a day. During one mating spree, I witnessed another female duck I believe to be her sister, mount the hen after the males were done with her. I was very surprised to see that.

I see something unusual almost every day watching these Muscovys interact. I have grown quite fond of them however, I am concerned that the population may get to be a problem where I live.mrvax 23:46, 7 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Vocalizations

Has anyone ever done a vocal range test of the Muscovy Duck? This Duck is relatively quiet for a duck. When you observe Muscovy Ducks they look like they vocolize more than you can hear.

[edit] Caruncle edit

I reverted some edits; Caruncle is the correct word, not carbuncle. Most ducks do not quack, and I don't know offhand of any male duck that does, quacking being restricted largely to female dabbling ducks. jimfbleak 08:44, 10 Jan 2005 (UTC)

And I also went ahead and fixed this messy discussion page. Cyborg Ninja 05:54, 19 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Origin of name

Does anyone know how a south american duck got named after Moscow? I came here looking for that bit of etymology and didn't find it. (I found one source that claims it's a corruption of "musk duck")

The entry for turkey says:
"The names for the domesticated Turkey in other languages also frequently reflect its exotic origins, seen from an Old World viewpoint, and confusion about where it actually comes from. The many references to India seen in common names go back to a combination of two factors: first, the genuine belief that the newly-discovered Americas were in fact a part of East Asia, and second, the tendency to attribute exotic produce to some particular place that at that time symbolized far-off, exotic lands. The latter is reflected in terms like "Muscovy Duck" (which is from South America, not Muscovy) and indeed was a major reason why the name "turkey-cock" was transferred to Meleagris species." - 74.69.227.16 19:41, 3 April 2007 (UTC)

I have owned Muscovys for several years now. I have done lots of research on the species. I am not an ornithologist. The "Musk Duck" explanation is very common. It can be found pretty much everywhere. It seems to be an old wives tale. The The Domestic Waterfowl Club of Great Britain article on Muscovy Ducks tells how the "musk" gland of this species was used in 19th century patent medicine. Muscovys don't have a musk gland. They do have a prominent oil gland at the base of their tail though. The ducks have no musky oder. This might be another possible explanation for the term "Musk Duck," but most of the research I've seen predates the name "Muscovy." Additionally, it's not easy to agree that "Musk Duck" corrupted to "Muscovy" in the short span between the 19th and 20th centuries. As well, documentation shows the name Muscovy predated the 19th century, as far back as the 16th century. Additionally since the ducks don't have musk, the term Mask Duck seems much more logical, because of the mask like appearance of the species' caruncles.

Among duck owners, a much more plausible explanation is paraphrased in David Holderread's Storey's Guide to Raising Ducks 2001, pp 73-74. I will line out the basic points of the explanation:

  • Muscovys were domesticated in the New World when Columbus arrived (most likely for centuries).
  • Muscovys have been in Europe at least since the 1500s.
  • The Muscovite Company or (Muscovy Company) was a very prominent shipping company during that time in history (similar to the East India Company) which transported the ducks to Europe.
  • It was common practice to attach the importer's name to the products they sold. Thus, in 1550 the ducks would have been called Muscovite Ducks or Muscovy Ducks.
  • Over the years, Muscovy became more common than Muscovite.

--Victorcoutin 17:41, 20 April 2007 (UTC)

The above reference to "Sir Hugo of Trumpington" (not in this section, but at the first part of this "talk" category) has been cited in several other places that I've seen. The coat of arms of Trumpington supposedly contains (or once contained) an image of a Muscovy duck. My above reference to the Muscovy Company being responsible for the importation of the species ties into this. I have seen references to the Trumpingtons being involved with the Muscovy Company, which could explain the inclusion of a Muscovy duck on their coat of arms. I don't as yet have the documentation at hand to verifiably determine this.--Victorcoutin 18:01, 20 April 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Odd mother behavior

Not having observed closely other duck species I find the behavior of a particular mother Muscovy duck quite unexpected. This hen currently has 10 of 15 chicks still left that are 18 days old. I have seen the mother fly away and leave the chicks for up to 15 minutes to socialize with other ducks. When she is with the clutch and decides to walk to someplace else, she does not bother to see if all the chicks are following. I see the chicks split away from the main group, often without their mother. I have also observed the chicks take off on their own from the main group to go where they want to. I have seen the mother duck participate in forced mating and also what appears to be willing mating while in the presence of her chicks.mrvax 00:03, 8 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] How the ducks relate to the chicks

Seagulls, coots and mallards do not seem to bother the Muscovy chicks at all. I have seen them pecked at - sometimes very hard by other Muscovys. When I do see a female or male duck peck a chick, it always occurs during feeding or near a feeding area. The female ducks will peck a chick lightly until the female is chased away by the mother. I have never seen an older male Muscovy give anything more than a nudge to a chick. A young male Muscovy (5 months old) has pecked/bit the chicks quite hard and almost seems jealous of them. I observed an older male chase this juvenile away when he was about to disturb the chicks.mrvax 00:03, 8 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Area they reside

Two problems with the first paragraph of this article. It says they have "occurred" as far North as Tennessee and Arkansas. Firstly, to say they 'occurred' makes it sound like they are some freak accident or experiment rather than a species. Secondly, I live in Virginia Beach and my neighborhood lake is packed full of these birds. Last time I checked, Virginia Beach is farther north than Tennessee and Arkansas.


I noticed this too. I also notice that muscovies tend to get hit by cars a lot in virginia beach.

[edit] Addition

I would like to add that they don't just reside in southern america. I found one in Ukiah, California. It hangs out at Lake Mendocino alone and sometimes can be seen with a large group of Canadian Geese. I found it fasinating. It comes almost right up to you especially if you are feeding it.

[edit] Appeared out of nowhere

We have a Muscovy Duck who seemed to appear out of nowhere take up residency recently in our neighborhood. We do have the regulars, geese & mallards, who inhabit the small pond in the center of our community. But, I'm real curious about where this guy came from. Does anyone know if these birds are raised as food anywhere? The inhabiants of the house that the bird seems to hang around are Asian. I just hope they are not raising it to eat.158.111.4.25 (talk) 12:11, 22 May 2008 (UTC)