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Project Noah Nature School
Anas platyrhynchos
Mallard drake with a white and gray crest on its head.
Lake Poway
"... is descended from the domestic mallard and sports a pouf of feathers growing out of back of its head. This crest is actually caused by a genetic mutation" - Animal Planet
That what I love about ducks! So clumsy on the ground but so elegant on the water!
Ha, I don't doubt that. Ours were on a slight hill and they did seem a little unbalanced but then I never thought of ducks being very graceful. Thank you for the information Daniele!
We've owned crested ducks and the majority of the eggs didn't hatch. Those that did were quite healthy! I actually like the look :)
Wow nice, thank you for the enlightening Cindy, then it's not ill like mine :)
The crest on some mallards is actually the manifestation of a mutation; the crest is formed from fatty tissue that seeps through a gap in the duck’s skull. The mutation isn’t fatal.
Here's information on the crested duck http://www.domestic-waterfowl.co.uk/cres...
@ Donna you might be right unfortunately...
I have a photo of a Great Tit which is doubleheaded due to some DNA error.
http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/859...
Seems like something abnormal is causing the feathers to bulge out like that, perhaps a tumor or injury? It sure would be interesting to find out why.
Spotted on Feb 9, 2012
Submitted on Feb 9, 2012
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