Muscovy Duck
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| Muscovy Duck | ||||||||||||||
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Muscovy Duck Muscovy Duck | ||||||||||||||
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| Cairina moschata (Linnaeus, 1758) |
The Muscovy Duck Cairina moschata is a large perching duck.
It breeds inland in central and tropical South America. It is a species whose normal habitat is forest lakes and streams. Their feet have sharp claws.
A Muscovy hen can set up to three times each year, and lays a clutch of 8-21 eggs usually in a tree hole or hollow. The eggs incubate for 35 days.
It has benefited from nest boxes in Mexico, but is uncommon in much of the east of its range due to persecution. Food is plant material obtained by grazing or dabbling in shallow water.
This species is widely domesticated. Wild birds are all-dark apart from the white in the wings, but domesticated birds, like those pictured, often have other plumage features. They are usually also bulkier than the wild birds. Muscovy hens range from 5 to 10 pounds, while males are commonly 10-15 pounds. Domesticated birds have re-escaped into the wild and now breed outside the native domain, including western europe and the United States.
The male has a bare face and a lumpy knob on its bill.
