This last fall i shot and mounted this duck that was half pintail half mallard and i was told that this kind of duck is called a mule duck. I have seen a few pictures of mounted ones and they look fully plumed and very nice feathers. I shot mine on opening day so it was not fully plumed. I know this bird must be rare and to get one fully plumed must be extremly rare but are the ducks im seeing that have all there adult feathers tame ones? I wanted to know if people may have had a tame duck like this and had them mounted, and thats why they have nice feathers. Im just curious if anyone has a tame "mule duck" or anything like that.
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I have never heard of them called a mule duck, but they are certainly a hibred just as a mule is, and I they may not be able to reproduce just as a mule, but who knows, dogs do it. I doubt that "mule" is any kind of formal name given to this freak of nature. Domestics come in all shapes sizes and colors. You would need to ask the guy who got it and had it mounted to answer your question. I personally have never seen one that I could say for sure was that particular cross.
I've done three of these - two awesome looking one immature. The only name I've heard is pin-mallard. All of these were wild birds.
Neat looking!
From what I understand, they are semi-fertile hybrids - meaning that some or maybe most of them are able to reproduce and create 3/4 versions as well, then 7/8 and so on.
They are indeed a very pretty hybrid. I don't personally know anybody who has done it, but it should be really easy to produce captive-bred versions. Pintails do well in captivity, and mallards .... well, .... the mallards would be very happy to help!