Duck (Muscovy)

The wild Muscovy Duck are the only domestic ducks that are not derived from Mallard stock. They are a South American species. The original (wild type) coloration is black and white, but domestication has produced many more colors, including white, black, chocolate, and blue. The males are large, weighing up to twelve pounds, with the smaller females reaching only seven

His most distinctive features are a bare featherless face with pronounced red or black bumps at the base of the bill and a low erectable crest of feathers. The drake has a dry hissing call, and the hen a quiet trilling coo. Muscovy ducks feed mostly on underwater vegetation, seeds and acorns.

 Photographed in the wild in Naples, FL