Cairina moschata
Status: No accepted records.
Taxonomy: No subspecies are recognized (Gill et al 2022).
Comments: Wild Muscovy Ducks occur in the US only in the Rio Grande River Valley, Texas, where they became established around 1984 after expanding their range northward (Eitniear et al 2020).
According to eBird.org (accessed Apr 2023), established feral Muscovy Duck populations occur only in Florida, where they are considered established statewide. There are large domestic populations not considered established and breeding (per eBird.org, accessed Apr 2023) throughout most of the US, especially in the southern states where numbers are sufficient to largely avoid hybridization with domestic type Mallards and various “park ducks”.
There are at least 20 reports from Nebraska, but none are of established feral populations. Best counts have been 11 at Halleck Park, Sarpy Co 11 Sep 2022 and one there 10 Nov 2024, six at Heartland of America Park, Omaha, Douglas Co 31 Jul 2022, and six at Lakeside Park, Douglas Co 7 Nov 2017 declining to one by winter 2021-2022. An apparent phenotypic male Muscovy Duck was at Lakeside Park, Douglas Co 13 Jan 2018 (Peterson, eBird.org); its provenance is unknown.
Most domestic Muscovy Ducks occur in parks, often as hybrids with various other “park ducks”. For discussion on these hybrids, see Muscovy Duck x Mallard (hybrid) – Birds of Nebraska – Online. Such domestic Muscovy Duck hybrids are usually distinguishable by white blotches on the body plumage (Eitniear et al 2020). An interesting discussion can be found here.
Images
Literature Cited
Eitniear, J.C., R. Bribiesca-Formisano, C.I. Rodríguez-Flores, C.A. Soberanes-González, and M.d.C. Arizmendi. 2020. Muscovy Duck (Cairina moschata), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (T. S. Schulenberg, Editor). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.musduc.01.
Gill, F., D. Donsker, and P. Rasmussen (Eds). 2022. IOC World Bird List (v 12.2). Doi 10.14344/IOC.ML.12.2. http://www.worldbirdnames.org/.
Recommended Citation
Silcock, W.R., and J.G. Jorgensen. 2024. Muscovy Duck (Cairina moschata). In Birds of Nebraska — Online. www.BirdsofNebraska.org
Birds of Nebraska – Online
Updated 1 Dec 2024