Manky Mallards

When two different breeds of duck mate the resulting young they produce are often called “Manky Mallards” or “Hybrid Mallards”. They are called “manky” because their genetic pool has been mixed up resulting in often strange looking ducks with the mixed colouring and physical characteristics of their mismatched parents. The “mallard” tag comes from the most common breed of duck – any cross-breed wild duck is very very likely to have a mallard or part-mallard relative. Mallards and other ducks have a strong tendency and ample opportunity to crossbreed when mixing together in the wild. Many different duck breeds such as the Gadwall, Shoveller and Mallard are sexually compatible and able to produce healthy young. This behaviour is resulting in fewer and fewer pure-breed ducks on the ponds and lakes of the UK today.