H.J. Ruiz – Avian101 – Page 832 – "My Backyard Visitors" – All about birds

Crested Duck

The domestic Crested Duck is a duck breed descended from the Mallard. It has its appearance because it is heterozygous for a genetic mutation causing a deformity of the skull. As a result, when a pair of crested ducks breed, the young sort out in the usual 1-2-1 ratio:-

25% are homozygous for the normal allele of this gene and so have no crest and if bred together their offspring will never have a crest.
50% are heterozygous for this gene and hatch with a crest of varying sizes.
25% are homozygous for the crested allele of this gene and die from exposed brain without hatching, as it is lethal in homozygous form.

If a crested duck and a non-crested duck breed together, the resulting ducklings would be expected to be 50% crested and 50% non-crested.

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My wife and I took Tyler to a local park to visit ducks or any other avian we could find there. Among the groups of species we found the one I described above and you’ll see the accompanying photographs.

Click on the images to see enlargements

Text and photographs © H.J. Ruiz – Avian 101

Tags: Crested Duck, nature, photography, photos of birds

Carolina Chickadee

Carolina Chickadees a small in size but giants in courage. When defending their nests they are brave and will do anything to deter an intruder from getting near their homes.

They will definitely confront any bird regardless of their size.

I’ve seen the C. Chickadees in my backyard from day one when I moved to Georgia. Every year they nest in the surrounding areas of my backyard and are also frequent visitors to my feeders.

My wife like these birds a lot. I like them too. I have a lot of admiration for them for reasons of their bravery.

Click on images to see enlargements