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Call Ducks: The Yellow Belly Call

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Yellow-belly
'The yellow-belly is a variety that appeared amongst the decoys, especially around the small fisherman's place Katwijk. Until now I haven't been able to determine the genetic background of this variety. The pattern of the drake looks very much like the Mallard. The colour of the lower breast and the belly tell whether a drake is a mallard or a yellow-belly. This variety is still quite recent and has in meanwhile spread to the UK and the US'..
 

The Dutch standard of the Yellow-belly
(Translated by Andy Verelst)

Description of plumage colour in the drake:
Head: Lustrous green.
Eyes: Dark brown.
Bill: Greenish, a little dark cast is admitted. Blackish bean.
Neck: Lustrous green. A sharply marked, not too large white neck ring completely encircles the neck and divides it from the breast colour.
Breast: Upper breast reddish buff changing to buff towards the belly.
Belly and flanks: Belly light buff. Flanks blue-grey on the upper parts, changing to brownish buff on the lower parts.
Back: Upper part grey mixed with brown. Rump and sex-curls greenish black.
Wings: Coverts brown, bordered with light grey. Tertials greyish brown. Specula greenish blue bordered by black and white. Primaries blackish grey, becoming a little paler at the tips.
Tail: Dark grey-brown, bordered with white.
Legs
: Deep orange.

Description of the plumage colour in the duck:
Head
: Brown with distinct markings and two brighter stripes, both starting at the base of the bill and one passing above and the other under the eye.
Eyes: Dark brown.
Bill: Orange-brown with blackish bean.
Neck: Buff in the front. In the back a brown stripe extends from the crown to the base of the neck. This stripe is a bit darker on the head.
Breast: Entirely buff.
Belly and flanks: Belly a lighter buff than the breast and flanks. Flanks entirely buff.
Back: Buff with faint grey markings.
Wings: Coverts greyish yellow-brown with light brown markings. Tertials brownish grey. Specula greenish blue bordered by black and white. Primaries brownish grey, becoming a little paler at the tips.
Tail: Main tail feathers light br
own with pale edge. Undertail brown.
Legs: Orange.

Pictures mostly taken at Hasselt, Belgium 1998

 

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