White duck ID please

[Run rabbit]

Its probably a silly question but I can't find the answer in either of my bird books.

What are the white ducks with the orange beaks and feet called? They look just like mallards in shape and size and we see them with mallards on nearly every pond. For years I thought they were eider ducks but I think that was because I had white feathers in an eiderdown as a child

I have been trying to find out what they really are for years but no one you ask seems to know.

Can someone let me know please.

[Dogghound]

Think their known as perkins ducks, they originate from China

[stirling]

Probably farm yard ducks they are often seen with mallards etc.
Best from mike.

[Shanik]

Pekins or Aylesburys? Although Aylesburys are a larger breed. Hmm, maybe just some hybrid crosses?

[badger426]

If they're farmyard ducks then probably Aylesburys

[paulchandler6]

I think they are probably Aylesbury Ducks or Pekin Ducks, when they live wild they tend to slim down.

Isnt Peking Duck the cooked version?

Paul

[Run rabbit]

Thanks everyone.

I shall go an check out those breeds.
I had wondered whether ducks interbred as we sometimes see some very strange creatures on local ponds.

Cheers
Jo

[Gill Catton]

Aylesbury ducks are much bigger than a mallard, call duck (sometimes white are much smaller), pekin is a good call though they are still pretty chunky.

http://www.feathersite.com/Poultry/Ducks/BRKDucks.html

try this site for id of domestic ducks

[cherrybee]

The mallard duck doesnt appear to be fussy in there breeding.Mallards frequently interbreed with their closest relatives.I have often seen lots of variations of a mallard.You can normally tell if it is a mallard cross if you look at the tail end.It has curly black uppertail feathers

[Bunster]

They could be just 'white mallards'. I help out at a wildlife rescue, and they take in a couple of hundred orphaned ducklings every year. Occasionally in a brood of mallard ducklings, there will be one odd yellow one.
I end up taking these home to rear as they are considered 'domestic' . Out of the 6 I have reared over the last two summers, all have grown up to be the same size and shape, had the same behaviour, and made the same noises as mallards, and the males have had the white curl on their tail.