WTD?? Muscovy madness!

What the duck?? On the last day of January, by the south shore of the lake, two white ducks are sashaying around, showing off their alarming blood-red face decoration.

 

Their entitled air bespoke poultry rather than wildlife; could they have escaped some provider of tasty birds to our city's diverse gourmands? What are these guys, anybody?

Thanks for a quick ID to Mary of Ditmas Park Blog, who "patched" me in to this link: They are  Muscovy Ducks! Apparently, they blew in with Hurricane Irene. According to Wikipedia:

* Them's good eatin'...gourmets call these "Barbary ducks," and they have a beefier taste than regular Mallard-based ducks.

* They are not from Moscow, but "muscovy" may have been a term implying exoticism. (Or a corrupted name from Native Americans in Colombia, where they are indigenous.)

* They are "carunculated" (lumpy-faced). Wild ones are part black, domesticated ones can be all-white. In addition (duck overshare alert): "Male Muscovy Ducks have spiralled penises which can become erect to 20 cm in one third of a second. Females have cloacas that spiral in the opposite direction to try to limit forced copulation by males."

* They can become "nuisances" and some areas cull the flocks...oh, no, here we go again?

 

Elsewhere along the South Drive, crews continued to hew damaged trees and leave mountains of fresh chip mulch for distribution.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There are, however, plenty of trees left. And in a mere quarter of a year, they'll have leaves...

 

More Parky Patches:

I should look at Park Slope Patch more often. Just today they had 2 cool items about park-related stuff:

1. A movie shoot with Joaquin Phoenix on the Long Meadow, and

2. A "wilderness survival course" on February 11 run by the Urban Rangers. Since most of us in Brooklyn already feel as if we survive routinely in some fairly wild environments, that should be amusing!

Comments

[Mary]

Muscovy ducks! These two possibly showed up after the hurricane ( http://parkslope.patch.com/articles/photos-prospect-park-swans-and-geese-react-to-duck-interlopers#photo-8378955 ), but there have been other sightings of Muscovies at the park in the past. Great faces on these guys!