Arguably Australia’s strangest duck; Musk Ducks are endemic to Australia and are pretty peculiar.
1/2000, f/8.0, ISO 1600, focal length 560mm
Canon 5DSR, Canon 200-400mm L IS USM EXT
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.
1/2000, f/6.3, ISO 1600, focal length 540mm
Canon 5DSR, Canon 200-400mm L IS USM EXT
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.
1/1600, f/5.6, ISO 800, focal length 560mm
Canon 5DSR, Canon 200-400mm L IS USM EXT
Young Musk Ducks are rather strange looking too.
1/1600, f/6.3, ISO 800, focal length 560mm
Canon 5DSR, Canon 200-400mm L IS USM EXT
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.
1/1600, f/6.3, ISO 800, focal length 560mm
Canon 5DSR, Canon 200-400mm L IS USM EXT
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.
1/1600, f/6.3, ISO 800, focal length 560mm
Canon 5DSR, Canon 200-400mm L IS USM EXT
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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What a hilarious looking species, gotta love them!
I agree!
Thank you for these photo’ of a very strange looking Duck, also very interesting in the color,only found Australia is that right?
They really are quite peculiar! And quite lovely. Yes, only in Australia. I wonder if a loon would be your most similar species? Though I’ve never actually seen one so could be very wrong here.
What a wonderful post to start my day on.
It is well before sparrow fart here and I have been delighted (as always) with your images AND have learned things. Many, many thanks.
You are definitely an early riser EC, there are so many beautiful things to see when you’re up and about before the sparrows