The Muscovy Duck breeds in urban and suburban lakes and on farms throughout Florida. Apparently, no pair bond is established, at least among domesticated Muscovy Ducks. Matings are promiscuous and a form of rape, where the male overpowers the female. They nest in tree cavities or on the ground. In suburban and urban areas, they nest under shrubs in yards or on condominium balconies or under roof overhangs. It is said that each adult duck produces about 1/3-pound of dung per day. They have been known to mate with wild Mallard Ducks, creating another nuisance.
In many places, these large, ungainly birds are considered pests due to aggressive panhandling and because they defecate in swimming pools and on patios and docks. They feed on aquatic plants, grasses, seeds, insects, and on human handouts, such as bread.
In Florida they are now considered "invasive". They are protected in Florida by Statute 828.12, which makes shooting or hurting them in anyway punishable by law. Suggested means to curtail them within the law 1) Stop feeding them 2) Repel and harass with low noises or by chasing 3) Control flock size by locating nests and vigorously shaking eggs to render inviable. Return eggs to nest so hen won't renest. Sfpc 12:44, 1 June 2006 (UTC)
Thank you user:jimfbleak for taking the time to update and format the Muscovy Duck entry to reflect the status of this duck in Florida. Sfpc 20:48, 2 June 2006 (UTC)
Would somebody mind checking out the bit about "Sir Hugo of Trumpington" in this article? I was not sure about the sentence previous to that one, and therefore haven't done the cutting myself.
I am a new person to the sight and would think that I would learn something form it, that was my intention. However, I feel the responsibility for adding to the information that you have posted. We are talking about anamils here, and not ones that are endangered. I live in south Texas and there is not an abundance of Muskovy ducks here. Therefore, I do not have the problems that thoes persons in Florida have. Probably the oposit. I had to hunt through many places in this state before I found a place where I could purchase my Muscovis. I did find a man near me that had Muscovi ducks but didn't know what they were. From the first 4 that I got, two males and two females I have had as many as 35 ducks in my pen at one time. Because I have them in a controled environment, I can observe them quite closely. Please read and correct if you think my findings are not correct. There is one male that is dominent. He controls all the other males. Though he is the dominent male, one female is the leader of the clutch. She will be the first one to leave the pen to explore the yard, to enter the garden, to find the bugs near the roots of the plants. When she returns to the pen, all others follow. Taken from what was written earlier, "They feed on aquatic plants, grasses, seeds, insects, and on human handouts, such as bread." My ducks are deprived of aquatic plants, but they do eat the seeds of the grass, prefering to eat only the tender parts of Bermuda grass. They scroung heartly for bugs, mostly sow bugs, near the roots of the grass. They love dryrott wood and will eliminate it completely if they have the access to it. They are drawn to styrofome and will eliminate it in a short time. I was very worrried when I saw this occuring but had no way to stop it and observed that they did not become ill and were quite well after word. The ducks reach maturity in 6 months, atleast the male do and if you provide them with dog food, will reach a 8 to 10lbs by this time, females from 6 to 8 lbs. I have found that they are intelegent enough to learn routines. Time for feeding for sure but they know when I carry vegitable parts to throw in their pen after supper. In the pen, they hide their eggs even though the pen is small and it is comon to see two hens in the same nest at the same time laying eggs together.
The clock is ticking - when will the Muscovy duck cross the line from being just a duck to a full blown nuance! Currently the ducks in my area have become nothing but panhandlers, waddling through the neighborhood looking for birdfeeders to live off of. They have given up using their natural desire for food they are suppose to be eating. It is only a matter of time before they become nothing more than a domestic farm animal and then all of the things written in the main article will be a laugh. I live with them everyday, observing their demise first hand! —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Sfpc (talk • contribs) 03:02, 27 March 2007 (UTC).
I don't think this section (which mainly seems to be a set of instructions) has any place in this article at all. Any thoughts? CiaranG 20:37, 1 December 2006 (UTC)
From what I have read, the best bet is to locate a nest prior to a hen sitting. The eggs can be vigorously shaken, marked and returned to the nest at this time without any suffering to an embryo. If eggs are shaken once a hen has begun to sit, this may result in deformed ducklings. Sudden removal of a nest will just permit the hen to begin the mating and laying cycle that much sooner. She will then lay in a different location.mrvax 23:34, 7 March 2007 (UTC)
It is possible to remove the eggs from the nest and replace them with plastic Easter eggs or even light bulbs to satisfy the female's brooding instincts and avoid a new mating cycle. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 98.166.41.109 (talk) 06:57, 16 October 2014 (UTC)
Does anyone know if these ducks (or if all ducks) groom each other? A little gang of these guys live in a pond right in front of my apartment. Often I watch one of them sort of sit on top of another in the water and peck at him/her. It almost looks like murder (the first time I saw it, I ran outside to watch).. but the other duck eventually comes back up. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Ryan Heuser (talk • contribs) 19:26, 7 December 2006 (UTC).
The 1st comment above about "them sort of sit on top of another in the water and peck at him/her.", probably refers to them mating. The ducks I have observed groom themselves and take frequent baths.mrvax 23:37, 7 March 2007 (UTC)
Because my ducks are in a pened up environment, I believe I can observe them closer then most people can or do. In my last entry to this sight, I told about the pecking order of the Muscovies that I have. My Alfa male does not fly, he is too big. The females can fly and do leave the pen only to get me into trouble with my neighbors. The beta duck has learned to traverse the fence so that he is with the females but because of the chainlink fence, will not mate in view of the alfa. Yet if he is behind a solid object that alfa can not see him, he will.
When there was a change in the flock, I gave several of my ducks to a friend that had a pond, I noticed that the females were in a disturbed state and I hung around to watch the event. This next part took almost a whole day and I think it probably went on into the next day also. One female was chasing another, not a fast chase, with plenty of feather pulling and emitting a "bonk" kind of sound from deep in her throat. I could see no movement of the neck or area of the head. The sound was very clear, like you would tap on a drum. This female became the new leader of the flock. She also became a big problem because she could fly and led all the females that could fly into the neighbors yards.
One of the females built a nest in an empty box on my porch. I did not want this duck on my porch so I removed the duck from the nest, collected 6 eggs and took the box out to the pen so that she could nest there. The nest 4 days, she was back on my porch looking for her nest. She would leave the porch only to return a little while later looking again for the nest. I enjoy the ducks but realize that I do not know enough about their life cycle to be able to tell you more. 1/24/07 —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 64.132.16.26 (talk) 02:27, 26 January 2007 (UTC).
As far as mating habits go, I agree that each area has an alpha male. I live on a lake in Orlando Florida. Sometimes another male will stop by and challenge the alpha male to fight. I often see the alpha interrupt one of "his" hens while mating with another duck. At other times, the alpha male will standby vocalizing but not chasing the "new" male away. I really haven't seen any hen behavior consistant with an "alpha female".
One time a particular female that was laying and just about ready to sit, was mating several times a day. During one mating spree, I witnessed another female duck I believe to be her sister, mount the hen after the males were done with her. I was very surprised to see that.
I see something unusual almost every day watching these Muscovys interact. I have grown quite fond of them however, I am concerned that the population may get to be a problem where I live.mrvax 23:46, 7 March 2007 (UTC)
Has anyone ever done a vocal range test of the Muscovy Duck? This Duck is relatively quiet for a duck. When you observe Muscovy Ducks they look like they vocolize more than you can hear.
I reverted some edits; Caruncle is the correct word, not carbuncle. Most ducks do not quack, and I don't know offhand of any male duck that does, quacking being restricted largely to female dabbling ducks. jimfbleak 08:44, 10 Jan 2005 (UTC)
Does anyone know how a south american duck got named after Moscow? I came here looking for that bit of etymology and didn't find it. (I found one source that claims it's a corruption of "musk duck")
Professor Lee Gass (U. British Columbia, Zoology, humming birds, retired) suggested to me in a private conversation that the word "muscovy" is derived from the latin "musca" for fly because of their ability to draw flies by scent, in order to eat the flies. The latter is a characteristic I noticed in them. 76.194.67.204 (talk) 15:58, 23 June 2009 (UTC)
I have owned Muscovys for several years now. I have done lots of research on the species. I am not an ornithologist. The "Musk Duck" explanation is very common. It can be found pretty much everywhere. It seems to be an old wives tale. The The Domestic Waterfowl Club of Great Britain article on Muscovy Ducks tells how the "musk" gland of this species was used in 19th century patent medicine. Muscovys don't have a musk gland. They do have a prominent oil gland at the base of their tail though. The ducks have no musky oder. This might be another possible explanation for the term "Musk Duck," but most of the research I've seen predates the name "Muscovy." Additionally, it's not easy to agree that "Musk Duck" corrupted to "Muscovy" in the short span between the 19th and 20th centuries. As well, documentation shows the name Muscovy predated the 19th century, as far back as the 16th century. Additionally since the ducks don't have musk, the term Mask Duck seems much more logical, because of the mask like appearance of the species' caruncles.
Among duck owners, a much more plausible explanation is paraphrased in David Holderread's Storey's Guide to Raising Ducks 2001, pp 73-74. I will line out the basic points of the explanation:
--Victorcoutin 17:41, 20 April 2007 (UTC)
The above reference to "Sir Hugo of Trumpington" (not in this section, but at the first part of this "talk" category) has been cited in several other places that I've seen. The coat of arms of Trumpington supposedly contains (or once contained) an image of a Muscovy duck. My above reference to the Muscovy Company being responsible for the importation of the species ties into this. I have seen references to the Trumpingtons being involved with the Muscovy Company, which could explain the inclusion of a Muscovy duck on their coat of arms. I don't as yet have the documentation at hand to verifiably determine this.--Victorcoutin 18:01, 20 April 2007 (UTC)
i don't know if this matters or if this is even the right page for this but has anyone ever heard of muskovy ducks being called "dry land ducks" because that is pretty much the default name for them here in eastern ky, it's proly just a hillbilly thing but i thought it might be worth mentioning, i'm not sure about the origins of the name but i think it refers to a "dry land duck" habit of hanging out at the barn waiting to be fed rather than swimming in the creeks looking for their own food 208.157.10.33 (talk) 20:26, 15 August 2008 (UTC)
Not having observed closely other duck species I find the behavior of a particular mother Muscovy duck quite unexpected. This hen currently has 10 of 15 chicks still left that are 18 days old. I have seen the mother fly away and leave the chicks for up to 15 minutes to socialize with other ducks. When she is with the clutch and decides to walk to someplace else, she does not bother to see if all the chicks are following. I see the chicks split away from the main group, often without their mother. I have also observed the chicks take off on their own from the main group to go where they want to. I have seen the mother duck participate in forced mating and also what appears to be willing mating while in the presence of her chicks.mrvax 00:03, 8 March 2007 (UTC)
Seagulls, coots and mallards do not seem to bother the Muscovy chicks at all. I have seen them pecked at - sometimes very hard by other Muscovys. When I do see a female or male duck peck a chick, it always occurs during feeding or near a feeding area. The female ducks will peck a chick lightly until the female is chased away by the mother. I have never seen an older male Muscovy give anything more than a nudge to a chick. A young male Muscovy (5 months old) has pecked/bit the chicks quite hard and almost seems jealous of them. I observed an older male chase this juvenile away when he was about to disturb the chicks.mrvax 00:03, 8 March 2007 (UTC)
Two problems with the first paragraph of this article. It says they have "occurred" as far North as Tennessee and Arkansas. Firstly, to say they 'occurred' makes it sound like they are some freak accident or experiment rather than a species. Secondly, I live in Virginia Beach and my neighborhood lake is packed full of these birds. Last time I checked, Virginia Beach is farther north than Tennessee and Arkansas.
I noticed this too. I also notice that muscovies tend to get hit by cars a lot in virginia beach.
I live in southeastern Kentucky and a group of Muscovy ducks arrived on our property last spring and are content being around us. They will eat cracked corn out of my hand and allowed a cat to lay next to the nest when a female was sitting on eggs. Shepherdwolf (talk) 18:14, 15 February 2009 (UTC)
I have tagged File:Runty,_my_little_Muscovy_Duckling.JPG, which is in use in this article for deletion because it does not have a copyright tag. If a copyright tag is not added within seven days the image will be deleted. --Chris 09:32, 28 April 2009 (UTC)
This species has an IUCN status of LC (least concern) and I am changing this (again) in the entry to reflect this fact that is cited within the article.
From the IUCN: "This species has an extremely large range, and hence does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the range size criterion. . . . Despite the fact that the population trend appears to be decreasing, the decline is not believed to be sufficiently rapid to approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the population trend criterion." Cobun (talk) 04:56, 26 January 2010 (UTC)
I observed that Muscovy Ducks also eat watermeal off our pond. That was the reason we got our fledglings. The ducks are a great option in keeping the water and area clean. We are hopeful that by next Spring our pond will have no or at least very little watermeal. SAUMulerider (talk) 16:41, 25 July 2010 (UTC)
The reference to the coming illegality of Muscovies came and was hotly disliked by Muscovy breeders/raisers. Then it was reformed. It seems somehow the experts at US fish and wildlife failed to realize that Muscovies are a popular domesticated breed of duck. How, I don't know. They revised the law to allow people to own Muscovies for food, but not as pets or for hunting, and they cannot be given away for free. Any edit I have ever made to wikipedia has been instantly reverted, so someone with an account needs to do it. 72.178.101.102 (talk) 10:52, 5 July 2011 (UTC)
https://www.facebook.com/groups/GranitevilleDucks1/
Wingman1 18:02, 1 June 2013 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by Wingman1 (talk • contribs)
The Domestic Muscovy should also actually be Cairina sylvestris moschata. Because when first described by Linneaus, he only described the domestic counterpart not the wild. The wild variant was described later as Cairina sylvestris.
Like other creatures compare dog to wolf or domestic goat to wild goat. You could see that the domestic counterpart is a subspecies of the wild counterpart. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 60.242.105.47 (talk) 09:32, 4 February 2014 (UTC)
Why change it. It represents the most common type of muscovy duck better than the pic of a wild type. With the wild type all ready shown in the page. Wingman1 18:48, 10 March 2015 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by Wingman1 (talk • contribs)
A2soup has a great idea. I can support this as a comprise. Wingman1 23:52, 10 March 2015 (UTC)
I guess my buddy Flash has had a good run, now I got to go take care of a one of his sons. (leg cought in fishing line- grr ) thanks for making the switch for me. @Steven Walling: Wingman1 16:59, 7 June 2015 (UTC)
I am kinda put out that it was changed without this discussion FIRST set aside that I took the photo , I feel it should be reverted untill discussion is complete. Wingman1 23:35, 10 March 2015 (UTC)
As for image quality I disagree . But I am not a pro. Wingman1 23:38, 10 March 2015 (UTC)
The lead image is still of rather poor quality. Can a replacement be chosen from commons:Category:Quality images of cairina moschata? --Trougnouf (talk) 07:45, 9 April 2018 (UTC)
@Innotata:
These are 4 wild types, but have been crossed with the domestic types, the "pure' "wild"types are not that widely distributed around the world. Wingman1 23:59, 21 November 2018 (UTC)
lets revisit thisWingman1 22:14, 25 May 2022 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by Wingman1 (talk • contribs)
There is a move discussion in progress on Talk:Trumpeter Swan which affects this page. Please participate on that page and not in this talk page section. Thank you. —RMCD bot 13:45, 10 May 2014 (UTC)
Nothing on the page touches on this. Wingman1 18:17, 12 December 2016 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by Wingman1 (talk • contribs)
Is there any compelling reason why that stub needs to be separate? Even if it wasn't a stub, we usually don't keep subspecies separate. FunkMonk (talk) 16:10, 29 June 2018 (UTC) That page is really not even needed at this point. They is ton's of data and sources about Domestic/pet Muscovy ducks i say merge it with this page, then add to this here. Wingman1 22:13, 29 June 2018 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by Wingman1 (talk • contribs)
Wingman1 - because I have minimal faith that you will actually be able to restrain yourself from reverting this until the cows come home - could you please demonstrate how "caruncle" (4800 Google hits) is a more commonly used term in connection with Muscovy ducks than "wattle" (20400 Google hits)? --Elmidae (talk · contribs) 07:55, 19 November 2018 (UTC)
They mean the same, but as some one who has raised them for years, let me break it down for you "Caruncle" = Muscovy Duck, "Wattle" = Chicken and "Snood" = Turkey.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caruncle_(bird_anatomy) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wattle_(anatomy) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snood_(anatomy)
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/why-do-muscovies-have-those-caruncles.364115/
https://animals.mom.me/tell-difference-male-female-muscovy-ducks-7364.html Wingman1 23:20, 21 November 2018 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by Wingman1 (talk • contribs)
...and it really hasn't occurred to anyone that the nonsensical "Muscovy" part just might be a misinterpretation of "musk", as explained in the entire second subsection of the etymology section? Do the speculations about Muisca and whatnot really need to be in this article? David Marjanović (talk) 21:15, 14 July 2021 (UTC)
Just added a link to educational article with a video about Muscovy Duck. I think would be very interesting for kids (video) and adults
Hello, I like to take photos of animals as a hobby, and I have a couple photos you are welcome to use that I believe are a Domestic Muscovy Duck. I did not want to insert them in the article myself because I do not know much about ducks, but I will leave them here if anybody would like to use them. Here are a couple, and I may add some more later (I'll post them here too.)
Spongeworthy93 (talk) 22:36, 4 August 2022 (UTC)
@ජපස: Not that this is of great importance, but this is an encyclopedia, and we do not deal in false absolutes. No, I don't "trust you" in this regard, because you are wrong :) An extremely high dilution does not mean that the diluted substance magically disappears at some point; it just becomes less and less probable that any given random sample of the dilution will contain any part of the original. Extremely improbable is not impossible, and the statement "the solution does not contain any muscovy duck liver" (or whatever) may be approximately (and practically) correct, but it is strictly wrong. Since the current formulation really does not create any false implications, I do not see a good reason for replacing it with one that does? --Elmidae (talk · contribs) 17:20, 18 November 2023 (UTC)
Okay, but as someone who uses numbers like these (normally much larger) but still calls them zero in reliable sources, I am aghast that you can argue with a straight face that there is a difference between a concentration of 10-400 and an absence of all solute. That's what you have argued. It's absurd. jps (talk) 12:55, 19 November 2023 (UTC)
In the meantime, I've started a discussion over at Talk:Domestic_Muscovy_duck#Oscillococcinum about the removal idea. Glad to see consensus that mentioning such things is really weird. It wasn't always thus at WP. jps (talk) 12:59, 19 November 2023 (UTC)