Amazing Musk Ducks

Arguably Australia’s strangest duck; Musk Ducks are endemic to Australia and are pretty peculiar.

Male Musk Ducks have a strange, leathery lobe that hangs beneath their bill. During the breeding season they inflate this lobe, flatten their fan-like tail and splash vigorously to impress their mates.

They are large, heavy ducks and their legs are set well back which makes them excellent in the water but clumsy on land. It takes them quite a while to take off so they rarely attempt flight during the day.

Young Musk Ducks are rather strange looking too.

Males and females are deep brown with lighter barring and spotting. Females have a tiny lobe beneath their bills which is generally pretty tricky to see.

If you look at the shot above closely you’ll see that the male Musk Duck’s lobe has wrapped around its bill. The texture of it is fascinating.

As always in photography the lighting makes a huge difference to the look of images. The reflection of a clear blue sky in the first three images gives a very different look to the dull, greyness of the next three shots. I can’t help but feel cold when I look at the shot above, though I especially like the way the duck is moving towards me, and the wave of water it is paddling through.

Happy birding, stay safe, Kim

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