Ducks are obviously birds and being birds are intelligent. They have acute hearing and can see colour very similar to us. They can recognise one person from another and have very good memories. Most domestic duck species originally came from the well-known mallard, (Anas platyrhynchos) which means they retain many of the habits and characteristics of that species. Constant breeding has produced many colours and types of duck that look very different to the wild mallard.
Ducks are very dependant on water for many things including feeding and maintaining their plumage. They also need to clean their nostrils which can become clogged due to 'mud sifting', so water is all important to these birds.
There are no mallards at H&Qs but we do have a trio of drakes that are very closely related to the wilder cousins namely, the Cayuga. Two of them certainly have Cayuga in their genes but there is also mallard in there too. The third of the trio posibly has another American breed in his blood as he looks very much like the Black Duck.
We also have a small flock of white ducks that are made up of two beeds.
We have a number of Indian Runner ducks too which differ from other ducks in many ways. Standing more upright, they can look a little strange at times and are less preocupied with swimming but more prone to forage in grass and open spaces.
The other group of ducks we have are Muskovy Ducks.
There has been debate for many years wether the Muscovy is a duck at all and should be looked upon as a goose. This isn't the case as Muscovy ducks lie somewhere in the middle being closely related to Shelducks but in their own subfamily.
They are large birds but the males are quite sedate when not fighting for territory or females.
Muskovy Ducks are perching birds and have strong claws to enable them to grip onto fences or the branches of trees.
We also provide a home for two ganders who look very similar to Chinese geese but there are no plans for further geese at the site due to the amount of space they require.
