English            -            Muscovy Duck

Portuguese    -             Pato-do-mato

Latin               -             Cairina moschata

The most distinctive feature of the Muscovy Duck is the featherless, bright “lumpy” red mask around their eyes and above the beak. Muscovy Ducks have a “crest” on the top of their heads that they can raise to fend off other males or to impress the females. The male is easily identified by his face mask alone - but also by his generally larger size - in fact, the adult male is usually twice the size of the female. The female’s appearance is generally more slender than that of the male. The adult males can weigh up to 7 kg and  measures around 79 cm in length. The original colour of the Muscovy Duck  is glossy blackish/brown and white, and most of them still are that colour - with varying degrees of white, black or brown. Some of them are very light coloured (mostly white), while others are mostly black/brown. The black / dark brown patches have an attractive iridescence to them that can only be seen in the right light conditions. Many other quite exotic colours have occurred - mostly in domesticated breeds, such as blue, blue and white, chocolate, chocolate and white, lavender and calico. They have webbed feet and strong sharp claws for grabbing tree branches for roosting. and their tail is fairly short, flat and wide. Their average lifespan ranges between 8 years and 12 years in wild. In captivity they may have a longer life expectancy of around 20 years.       

Wild populations of Muscovy Ducks are native to Central and South America but some wild populations are found in certain regions of Southern Florida, the lower Rio Grande River Valley in Texas and southern Canada. Some feral populations have also been established in some European countries as well as in New Zealand. Muscovy Ducks prefer watery habitats with dense vegetation and large trees, like rivers, brackish coastal wetlands, ponds and wooded swamps. Escaped domestic birds are often seen in various parks across there range. Most populations of Muscovy Ducks are non-migratory or irregular migrants without any established migration patterns. The birds may migrate to avoid dry weathers with fluctuating water conditions.

Muscovy Ducks are omnivorous. Their diet includes small fishes, crustaceans, termites, millipedes and even small reptiles. They also eat various plant materials like tree roots, leaves, stem as well as terrestrial and aquatic plant seeds including agricultural crops.

Muscovy Ducks become sexually mature at one year of age. Unlike many other duck species, the drakes do not take part in any dancing rituals to impress the hens. They often fight with each other to earn the right to mate with a female. Mating can take place either on land or in water. This species can breed up to 3 times each year. One male may mate with many females. After mating, the female Muscovy Duck builds her nest in tree cavities near a water body. She lays 10 to 16 eggs in the nest and remains there to take care of them. The incubation period continues for about 35 day, during which period, the hen leaves the nest only once every day to find foods. The female is known to chirp while laying the eggs so that the ducklings imprint to her. It takes around 24 hours for all the ducklings to come out of their eggs after the first egg hatches. The ducklings remain close to their mother for the first 10 to 12 weeks to keep warm as their bodies are not yet developed to produce adequate heat. The mother will risk her own life to protect the nestlings from predators and other dangers. The male also stays close to the nest for several weeks to protect the ducklings. The ducklings are trained to hunt and forage for food by both parents.          

Muscovy Ducks have not been surveyed anywhere in their range and little is known about their population status. The IUCN RED LIST lists this duck as a species “of Least Concern”. Muscovy Ducks are hunted for its meat and does require protection from hunting. Drastic declines in Mexico have been attributed to overhunting and clearcutting of bottomland forests. In Central America, hunting and egg-hunting appear to be a threat. Since this large duck needs a big nest cavity to accommodate its size, problems arise as old-growth forest diminishes and the Muscovy Ducks natural nest sites are lost.

Photo No 1 of the Muscovy Duck was taken at ilha do frade - Vitoria - Espirito Santo

Photo No 2 was taken at Parque Barigui - Curitiba - Parana

Photo No 3 of the female and the big male (behind) was taken at Parque Municipal - Belo Horizonte - Minas Gerais