Dusky Call Ducks

The CDA/BWA Standard 2007 for the Dusky Mallard Call

MALLARD DUSKY MALE
Head and Neck: Black with green lustre on the head and upper neck. Eyes: Dark brown. Bill: green, dark bean. No white collar.
Back: Dark grey-brown, shading to greenish black over the rump.
Breast: As flank feathers; no claret bib.
Flanks etc. Light grey, each feather finely stippled (pencilled, like the Dark Campbell) with dark grey.
Tail: Grey-brown, paler outer feathers; coverts and undertail greenish black.
Wings: Primaries grey-brown. Secondaries: (speculum) sooty grey with slight iridescence only, tipped with fine whitish-grey line. Tertials grey-brown. Minor coverts grey-brown; secondary coverts tipped with white then fine black line. Scapulars slightly darker than Mallard, brown edged. Under-wing coverts pearly grey-blue; axillars pale brown-grey.
Legs: Legs and webs dull orange.

MALLARD DUSKY FEMALE
Head and Neck: Brown, with darker graining. No eye stripes. Eyes: Dark brown. Bill: Dull grey-brown with dark bean and saddle.
Back: Brown, with darker pencilling (chevrons).
Breast and flanks: Brown, with dark brown pencilling on each feather. Underbody similar.
Tail: Dull dark buff, irregularly marked with brown; darker tail feathers in the centre than the outer edges.
Wings: Primaries, secondaries and tertials dull brown. Slight iridescence only on sooty grey secondaries, tipped with faint whitish-grey line. Minor coverts brown-grey; secondary coverts tipped with white forming a bar above the secondaries.
Under wing coverts and axillars as drake.
Legs: Dull orange with darker webs.

Disqualifications
Male: Any indication of claret bib. During eclipse: any sign of eye stripes.
Female: Any evidence of eye stripes.
Both: White neck ring. Cream or white axillars and under wing coverts. White primary feathers. Iridescent blue speculum. Blue eyes.

Minor faults
Male: Lack of black undertail.
Both: White feathers under the bill.

The Dusky Mallard Call
Evidence for Standardization

Call ducks with dusky characteristics have been in Call collections for many years, both in the UK and in the USA, and on the continent. Dusky Mallard has been referred to as an ‘off colour’ in Calls, i.e. non-standard. Yet the dusky gene is in well-recognized in Light Duck breeds such as the Khaki and Dark Campbell. This dusky color was also noted as early as 1933 by R.G. Jaap. These colours breed true where the birds are homozygous (i.e. pure) for dusky. The dusky allele m^d simply replaces the mallard allele M⁺in the triple series M^R> M⁺> m^d. In the presence of the other wild colour (⁺) genes the dusky has the following effects:

In the females, juveniles and males in eclipse plumage, the dusky (m^d) inhibits the eye stripes and paler throat feathers of the mallard pattern.

In the male nuptial plumage there is no white neck ring nor claret bib. The iridescence is also obscured in the speculum in all adult forms and reduced in the rump of the male. The under-wing is pigmented (pearl grey-blue).

In the ducklings, the four yellow spots giving the camouflage pattern of the mallard are lost. The mallard dusky is uniformly olivaceous black, with a faint haze of yellow at the tip of the down. Mallard dusky ducklings can be mistaken for blacks.

Homozygous dusky birds breed true. The dusky markings and colours are very much as in the Hook Bill (Dark Mallard) and Dark Campbell. This is a long-established colour form in the Light ducks.

Blue Dusky and Apricot Dusky

Just as in the standard Mallard/ Blue Fawn/ Apricot series of colours in Calls, there is a parallel series in the birds carrying the dusky gene. In the dusky series each colour variety has the same basic pattern of markings except that:

· Blue Dusky females lack a white bar on the secondary coverts.

· Apricot Dusky females lose the obvious pencilling, as in the standard Apricot Call.

The Blue Dusky is produced by one blue allele, the Apricot Dusky by two blue alleles (as in the Mallard/ Blue Fawn/ Apricot Call series, which are M⁺/ M⁺[instead of m^d/m^d] in the mallard triple allele series)

Colour genetics

Blue Mallard Series		Blue Dusky Series
Mallard	M⁺/M⁺bl⁺/bl⁺	Mallard Dusky	m^d/m^dbl⁺/bl⁺
Blue Fawn	M⁺/M⁺ Bl /bl⁺	Blue Dusky	m^d/m^dBl /bl⁺
Apricot	M⁺/M⁺ Bl /Bl	Apricot Dusky	m^d/m^d Bl /Bl

Blue Dusky drake. His head is a darker (charcoal blue) colour than the Apricot Dusky.

Thedusky blue drake flapping shows the pigmented underside of his wings - a true dusky characteristic.

Apricot Dusky

Pair of Apricot Duskies - two blue genes in the presence of dusky genes.