Strange Duck

[PAM TIES]

I Have Quite A Large Wild Pond At The Foot Of My Garden And I Live Amongst Fields. I Have Recently Had A Strange Duck Visiting. Can Anyone Recognise It. It Is Much Bigger Than My Resident Mallards And It Has Quite A Long Tail.
It Is Predominantly Black With A White Neck And A Red Knobbly Section Above The Beak

[Gaina]

That sounds a lot like a Muscovy Duck! They can range from mostly white with black patches to nearly all black with a bit of white, like yours.

I quite like the ugly little blighters

[Ollie]

Originally Posted by PAM TIES

I Have Quite A Large Wild Pond At The Foot Of My Garden And I Live Amongst Fields. I Have Recently Had A Strange Duck Visiting. Can Anyone Recognise It. It Is Much Bigger Than My Resident Mallards And It Has Quite A Long Tail.
It Is Predominantly Black With A White Neck And A Red Knobbly Section Above The Beak

The size and red knobbly section sounds as though it's a Shellduck, but they have brown on them as well, unless it's some sort of hybrid/cross breed
Roger

[Wild-Woman]

Originally Posted by PAM TIES

I Have Quite A Large Wild Pond At The Foot Of My Garden And I Live Amongst Fields. I Have Recently Had A Strange Duck Visiting. Can Anyone Recognise It. It Is Much Bigger Than My Resident Mallards And It Has Quite A Long Tail.
It Is Predominantly Black With A White Neck And A Red Knobbly Section Above The Beak

Sounds a bit like a muscovy duck.

[PAM TIES]

Are they common... I haven't seen one before.. I don't think!

[thunder]

Originally Posted by PAM TIES

Are they common... I haven't seen one before.. I don't think!

Muscovy Ducks aren't native, so this will have escaped or wandered from somewhere, but they are pretty commonly kept, so you might expect to find them just about anywhere.

thunder

[aeshna5]

Muscovy Ducks (which is what your bird is) are domestic birds which are derived from the wild species which occurs in central/tropical South America + extending north just into Texas. The wild bird looks totally different + to my eye is much more attractive, much greener, much less white + less of that red skin.

As others have said they are commonly kept as pets/poultry + can turn up anywhere. There was (possibly still is) quite a growing population of feral birds around the Ely area.