The Definitive Bird Name Tier List

 Greetings bird fans. You know, something I've learned over the years of doing this blog is that all birds are great, but not all bird names are equally great. We've done a little bit of grousing about this in the past, but today I'm going to really dive into this topic and do my best to determine what it takes to name a bird really really well. 

Ready? Let's get to the ranking, which is sure not to upset anyone

F minus Tier: Birds named for people (problematic)

Nuttall's Woodpecker

Hoo boy, do I even have to say it? #BirdNamesForBirds of course, obviously. Yes. There's nothing that sours a birding experience quicker than remembering that the person who assigned his name to this bird was a real piece of work. If you can google your bird name + problematic and come up with results? You've goofed on the bird naming. What do we mean by awful people? Usually, because of the time period in which we got most of our commonly used bird names, we're talking about the colonialists, racists, and general genocide-enjoyers of the Age of Manifest Destiny.

Best Examples: Bachman's Sparrow, named for slavery-defender John Bachman

Audubon's Oriole, named after famous bird painter, slave owner, and white supremacist, John James Audubon. 

McCown's Longspur, which was named after a confederate general and staunch slavery advocate. Oops! This one was so bad that the American Ornithological Society actually did something for once, and now it's called the Thick-billed Longspur, which is probably like a C-Tier Name (so, much better).

Birds of this category that have appeared on this blog: Townsend's Warbler (Grave robber! Phrenologist! read more here) Steller's Jay (the Steller tea, admittedly somewhat milder)

F Tier: Birds named for people (non-problematic)

Rivoli's Hummingbird

Although some don't, I do make a minor distinction here. In my very cursory research there are some birds named after legitimately cool conservationist types and early birdwatching enthusiasts. That is, to me, less bad. However, what is the compelling case to mess around with eponyms in the first place? The idea of someone 'naming' a bird after themselves or someone else, when it almost certainly has a name from the native people of the area, is pure colonialism. Honestly, if you go back and read my blog entries for some of the eponymous birds above, you won't find a lot of these details, because a lot of the time those details are absent from their wikipedia summaries. I guess what I'm saying is that all of these old people are going to get cancelled for something eventually. Let's just get ahead of it now. Also, these names have zero flare. (PS, sign the bird names for birds petition, and read more about the villains of history who somehow get birds named after them.)

The Argument for: In this case, I kind of get the idea. If someone was important to naturalism or conservation, you might want to name a bird in their honor. For the bird watcher or enjoyer these names are basically useless, but they do give you a little sense of curiosity and mystery, and sometimes make you want to look up old historic figures who you may not know much about. Sometimes you might even find out those historic figures were slave owners. If you really want to do this, save it for the Latin name.

Examples: Wilson's Warbler, Allen's Hummingbird

D Tier: Birds named for a feature or location (inaccurate)

Ring-necked Duck

The Palm Warbler, who does not live in Palm Trees, and the Inca Dove, who does not live anywhere within the former lands of the Incan Empire are prime examples of this. A milder version would be The Connecticut Warbler, which has a range that includes Connecticut, but also the entire East Coast, and Mid-West, and parts of Central Canada. Even worse are the birds with inaccurate field markings. The Ring-necked Duck, with it's invisible cinnamon ring springs to mind, as does the Red-bellied Woodpecker, which has a belly that is only visibly red when the bird is "dead, in your hand", as one naturalist was quoted as saying.

The Argument for: There is no good reason to name a bird like this. Maybe it's kind of fun to have a very confusing and unintuitive name once in a while. Makes birding an exclusive club where we get to roll our eyes at newcomers who ask "Wait, why is that called a Ring-necked Duck?" That doesn't sound like a very compelling case in favor to me. Like the eponyms, you also get a little homework assignment where you feel compelled to investigate why these birds have such bad names. Show me a birder who doesn't like homework.

C Tier: Comparative Bird names

Lesser Scaup

Greater this, lesser that, common whatever. These names are boring and not usually particularly helpful. Pass, throw them all away. I will say that there are some descriptor or modifier names that I kind of like, like Elegant Trogon or Magnificent Frigatebird. These are more like superlatives, but they do introduce kind of a wrinkle, since I think they fit best into this category. That's why it's time for me to introduce the "Poetic Modifier".  Any category from here on out gets a full bump in tier by taking a bird name from mundane to poetic. I.e. Magnificent Frigatebird is more like a B name, whereas Common Loon is a C name.

The Argument for: I guess if you live in a place where two birds look very similar, but one is larger, and one is smaller, you have a little bit of a useful name on your hands. I'm looking at you, Yellowlegs. The useless but flattering names are kind of fun. Maybe you just loved the bird so much when you saw it you needed to let everyone know it was extremely elegant. I can accept that.

B Tier: Birds named for a location (accurate)

Western Bluebird

This is the most boring name that a bird can have while still retaining some level of utility for the bird watcher. You run into the problem the problem fairly quickly that birds are generally pretty famous for moving around a lot, so it's hard to lock it down with just one place name. So you end up with a lot of birds being named for whole countries they are in, which doesn't really narrow it down. The habitats are better, and I especially like the Wren series- Marsh, Rock, Cactus, etc. I will admit that some location based named are cooler than others. My own personal scale puts Prairie Warbler and Gila Woodpecker well above American Wigeon and Island Scrub Jay, but your mileage may vary.

A Tier: Birds named for how they look/their physical features

Painted Bunting

I think this is your clear go-to, right? The number one way you would intuitively name most birds if you were asked to do so. Mostly this is not flashy, but it's certainly memorable and helpful. Great Blue Heron, got it. Roseate Spoonbill. Ok! I know what that's going to look like! The low end of this is probably, like, Black Phoebe, but you can get very very creative. Some of my personal favorites are Razorbill, Rhinocerous Auklet, Canvasback, and Vermillion Cardinal (yes, they are named after the Catholic clergy)

A+ Tier: Onomatopoeic Names/Birds named for how they sound

Laughing Gull

You get into trouble with the physical names eventually because there are, let's face it, a lot of birds that are at least a little bit boring looking. You can only have so many Little Brown Sparrows before you start running out of ways to describe the streaks. When you get there, you have some options, and a really fun one is the audio description. This ranges from Catbird (one of the best, sounds like a cat!) to Mourning Dove to Black-bellied Whistling Duck. All terrific names. If you want to take it up another notch further, you can dig into the Onomatopoeia. Bobwhite, Curlew, Chachalaca, Chickadee, Killdeer, and Whip-poor-will are all named for the sounds they make. You can see why every bird can't be named like this, but it's a great option when you have a distinctive call and a not-that-distinctive looking bird. Perhaps my favorite is the Nene. In my view, a bird named in the language of a place's native people also deserves to go up a tier.

S Tier: Birds named for how they behave

                                                                       Burrowing Owl

This is, to me, the absolute zenith of bird name quality. Don't tell me how the bird appears, tell me who the bird IS. What do they DO? What do you imagine their personality is LIKE? The more abstract and loaded with imagery the better. Hermit Thrush? Yes please. Happy Wren? Don't mind if I do. This also applies to birds that have descriptions of their behavior- many family or subfamily names are laid out like this, Creeper, Roadrunner, Skimmer, Flycatcher, Hummingbird, etc. Names like this are fairly rare, but they are always so great. It is also, in my opinion, the area that has the most room for expansion, perfect for renaming some of those eponymous birds. We don't need a Brandt's Cormorant, but an Ambitious Cormorant? Now I'm interested. Just a simple proposal, and I'd be happy to make up personality traits for as many birds as you like, if you're looking for an expert in the field of making stuff up about birds.

Post Script: Birds whose names I have no opinions on: Booby, Dickcissel, Bushtit, etc. These are often listed among the worst bird names, but I think it's ok that some things are funny. None of the birds are actually named after dirty words, except for the Windf*cker. They really meant it with that guy. Anyway, sometimes the etymology is pretty interesting for these birds. Leave them alone!

Cackling Goose

 

Cackling Goose
Miller/Knox Regional Shoreline, Richmond, California, USA
November 2020
Member of the Ducks, Geese, and Swans Family
§A Plump of Geese§

~True Bird Fact~ So, where to begin? Probably, we should address that most people with cursory bird knowledge would look at this bird and say "that's a Canada Goose". Yes, this bird is nearly indistinguishable from that familiar and frequently villainized waterfowl. Now this is nothing new for bird identification- I could rattle off a dozen pairs of birds that are nearly indistinguishable from one another to the untrained eye. However, in this case, it is only since relatively recently that this bird has been considered to be a different species from the Canada Goose. The primary difference is really just the size. Check out the picture below, which has a Canada Goose or two in it as well. The largest sub-species of Canada Goose is 4 times as large as the smallest sub-species of Cackling Goose. Incredible as this may seem, up until 2004 this bird was just considered to be "a small Canada Goose" basically. 

After the split was made, one ornithologist, Harold C. Hanson (can't quite explain it, but this is the most Ornithologist name you can have) suggested that the Canada Goose be further divided into 6 species and 200 sub-species. It's hard to tell to me, as an amateur, if this proposition was sincere or more of a "fuck it, they're all different species now" from Harold. In terms of the other ways to distinguish whether you have a Canada Goose or a Cackling Goose, if you were inclined to try to do so, there's something about the neck ring being thinner, but that's not even always visible. When you google search for Cackling Goose, the second result is an article about how to tell them apart from Canada Geese, which should tell you something about the processes. I suggest just finding them in a mixed flock, like I've done.

"Don't Talk to Me or My Son Ever Again"

And finally, it's time to return to probably my actual favorite segment we do here on the blog- Bird Reviews from BackyardChickens.com!

These reviews were pulled from a forum thread rather than an official review page, because these are a non-domesticated species of bird.

"there are very few of us that own these geese"

"I have Cackleing geese .... LOVE THEM!!!" ... "They free range every day and get along with everything." ... "they are not bonded to me, but are not terribly wild either."

"She does not know she's a goose. She thinks she's a dog. She has stayed around here, even though she can fly, likes her kiddie pool, doesn't like to share with other geese, but if you bark at her she comes running and honking."

"Cackling geese are better and smaller and easier to take care don't get them pinned" [as compared to Canada Geese]

The Definitive State Bird Power Ranking pt.1

Last week's bird, Western Meadowlark, and his rivalry with Northern Cardinal got me thinking about state birds. Specifically it got me thinking about how many bad state birds there are. I mean, all birds are pretty good, but you gotta be kidding me with some of these choices. All the more reason, then, to honor the rare really good state birds. So what are the best state birds? The worst? You're about to find out. Birds will be judged on qualities of uniqueness, representation of their state, and general overall birdliness. Of course at amateurnithologist we want to be a resource to you, the blog consumer, and we know that what you really crave is this information delivered via reverse-order listacle. We'll start off with..

29. Ruffled Grouse
State Bird of: Pennsylvania
 
As much as I love a good grouse, you can't win if you don't play. Pennsylvania is the only state to not declare a state bird. The ruffled grouse is technically their 'State Game Bird', and it's the only representative they put forth. At least it's a good game bird (many other State Game Birds are hackneyed Turkeys), but the implication that the only good thing about birds is shooting them is enough for me to give it the lowest spot on the list.

28. American Robin
State Bird of: Connecticut, Michigan, Wisconsin
 
You might've noticed that we started at 29 instead of the 50 you might expect. You start to see the origin of this problem here, which is that many states share a state bird. I'm of the opinion that this is unacceptable. Choosing a state bird that was already claimed by another state is an admission of boringness and unawareness of what makes your state unique. And choosing the robin might be the most boring move of all. Aside from their place as harbingers of spring, and their cool blue eggs, they've got basically nothing going for them. They don't even look that cool, which seems to usually be the criteria for these multi-state birds.

27. Western Meadowlark
State Bird of: Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oregon, Wyoming
 
A stunning number of states decided they were best represented by a bird who has neglected right in his name, which is a perfect description for the way in which they handled their state bird naming responsibilities. He's a pretty bird with a nice song, and aside from that there's nothing to say about the Meadowlark. Fascinating only for true madmen who find slight taxonomical distinctions interesting.

26. Northern Cardinal
State Bird of: Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, North Carolina, Ohio, Virginia, and West Virginia

I will grant you that this is an extremely cool looking bird, which goes a little ways towards explaining his dominant position as the chosen bird of the largest number of states. Still though, the only way 7 states choosing the same bird makes sense is if they weren't allowed to know what the other guys were picking. Imagine the embarrassment of showing up to a wedding in the same dress as someone else, and now imagine it's actually 7 people. But I get it, you wanted a cool looking state bird. The thing is, there's no shortage of attractive, colorful birds that aren't represented at all. Blue Jay? Not a state bird. Painted Bunting? Not a state bird. It boggles the mind.

25. Northern Mockingbird
State Bird of: Arkansas, Florida, Mississippi, Tennessee, Texas

I do like a mockingbird. They're clever, they mimic songs and sounds (one on my street does a great car alarm impression), and they have a cool swooping dive they do when looking for a mate. But FIVE STATES thought this was the bird that best represented them? Actually, sorry, it's 6 states, as this is also the former State Bird of South Carolina. Guessing he was involved in some kind of scandal and had to step down. One of the drabbest State Birds in appearance, he only makes it this high for his prominent place in our cultural landscape.

24. Ring-necked Pheasant
State Bird of: South Dakota

Now that we're truly through the most overplayed birds, we get to the interesting questions of what birds best represent their state. Well, we're almost there, since we've got another doesn't-really-count bird from South Dakota. While, yes, I was very excited to get a picture of the Ring-necked Pheasant a few months ago, it's not even a native bird. It's a game bird that was introduced for hunting and farming. How can you be a state bird if you're not native to the state you're representing? This feels like someone asked the governor to name a state bird and he just chose the one he likes to hunt the most.

23. Delaware Blue Hen
State Bird of: Delaware

You get some bonus points for having the name of your state in the bird name for sure. Yet here, near the bottom of the list is where the Delaware Blue Hen falls. It doesn't bother me that it's a chicken, or non-native in origin. Unlike the above-maligned pheasant, at least this bird has his origins in the state in question. And I think it's actually kind of cool to have a chicken for a state bird. The part where the Blue Hen loses me is that it gained its prominance, fame, and adoration primarily as a cockfighting bird. Hey guys, don't make birds fight each other, ok? Honoring the 'fightin' blue hens as the state bird seems like a tacit endorsement of bird fighting, and we're not cool with that here on amateurnithologist.

22. Eastern Goldfinch
State Bird of: New Jersey, Iowa
 
No one seems to have much to say about the Eastern Goldfinch, and that's because it fits into the large category of small, yellow birds that are a little bit fun to see. Seeing a goldfinch is nice, but lacks substance. It's like eating one potato chip. The seem like completely personality-less birds, or worse, birds with personalities I don't like. The fact that two states chose it as their state bird is a bit baffling to me. I also find it annoying to ID, knocking it down a spot or two.

21. Eastern Goldfinch again
State Bird of: Damn it Washington, how'd you screw this up?
 
Oh look who it is again, Eastern Goldfinch, aka. American Goldfinch, aka, in this case, Willow Goldfinch. You know what, you can't fool me, you're all the same bird. And I can tell because when I search for you on wikipedia, I get redirected to the American Goldfinch page. Don't try to sneak onto this list twice, Eastern Goldfinch. Even if it is technically a 'subspecies', I won't be fooled. Gets knocked down a spot on the list for this ruse. It was selected in 1951 by school children, which at least goes some way towards explaining why it was chosen so badly.

20. Eastern Bluebird
State Bird of: Missouri, New York

Managed to escape the penalty for being a duplicate for a while, as bluebirds are pretty cool birds. You get a lot of mileage out of being a symbol of happiness and spring. Easy to spot and pleasant to look at, the Eastern Bluebird is a good, but not great, state bird. It does evoke some personality and has a fairly unique coloration among North American birds. This could be much higher on the list if it weren't shared. If I were forced to choose, I'd give this bird to New York and make Missouri choose a new one.

19. Mountain Bluebird
State Bird of: Idaho, Nevada

Yes, it's another bluebird, but I feel like this one gets some bonus points for representing their state via the 'mountain' distinction. Doesn't a mountain bluebird just feel like Nevada? Honestly, to me it feels more like Colorado, but those two choices are fine too. Here we also get into the territory of the extent to which your state bird actually lives in your state, to the exclusion of other places. If you've got a bird that spans the entire country, it's less good by an order of magnitude than a bird that lives only in your state. That, to me, makes the Mountain Bluebird a better bird choice than the Eastern. Still, we're in doubling up territory here, and there's gotta be a penalty for that.

18. Black-capped Chickadee
State Bird of: Maine, Massachusetts
 
The final bird that double dips. From here on out we've only got states with unique birds (well, sort of, you'll see). The Black-capped Chickadee makes it further than the rest by being very cute. Well, that and it's got a neat trick for surviving the cold winter by dropping its body temperature and going into a kind of temporary bird-hibernation. That just feels very New England to me.

17. Common Loon
State Bird of: Minnesota

The next two birds are extremely cool and distinctive, and arguably are very good fits for their states. The problem? I would say they are more commonly associated with our North American neighbors than with us. The Common Loon is provincial bird of Ontario, it appears on Canadian currency (their 'Loonie' $1 coin, to be exact), and won the popular vote in the recent Canadian state bird elections (but still lost, aka pulling a Clinton). I know you can't really be expected to account for what other countries do, but this bird seems to be unambiguously, prominently Canadian. Maybe that makes sense, since you could argue that Minnesota is the most Canadian of the states.

16. Scissor-tailed Flycatcher

State Bird of: Oklahoma

Ok, I will grant you, that is a very good bird. But does that bird say 'Oklahoma' to you? An ideal state bird both exemplifies and demonstrates the best in a state. I would argue that the Scissor-tailed Flycatcher does only one of those things. This is not the typical Oklahoma experience, and anyone who looks at this bird can tell that it's primarily a Central American bird. Take a look at this range map. If I can only see a bird in my state 1/4 of the time, can it still represent my state? This one feels like the person in charge just chose the coolest looking bird that's been seen in Oklahoma and called it a day.

15. Rhode Island Red
State Bird of: What state do you think it's the state bird of?

The last bird that loses points on a technicality, we have the last of the 3 state birds that are technically not native to the country. Bred in Rhode Island in the late 19th century, this giant, rust-colored chicken has been a staple of meat and egg production ever since. It appears much higher on the list than his fellow chicken by virtue of not tacitly advocating animal cruelty (except the dairy industry, which, yes, there are problems). I'm factoring in the extra points for name-of-state in state bird, but this is accomplishment is somewhat diminished by the fact that you're more likely to see this bird in the grocery store freezer section than the wild. Rhode Island Reds enjoy stellar ratings on my literal favorite website Backyardchickens.com, at 93% favorable and a formidable 8th place in the Chickens category. Let's close out part 1 with some excerpts from reviews about this great chicken.

"I had trouble deciding between 4 1/2 stars or 5 stars on this breed. They are good chickens anyway, and I have no dislikes. Hope this helps!"

"They are mellow and just want to be loved on"

"She asserts herself but is not a bully"

"They are GREAT layers, but they have attacked a killed another chicken."

"want first food, first water, and plenty of personal space from the other chickens"

How Rhode Island is that, huh?

Anyway, we'll be back next week with the thrilling 14-1 list. Who is the top state bird?!? Part 2 is now live, so go find out now!

Revisiting the Turkey

My first portrait of a Turkey is from very early on in this blog's lifetime, 2012 to be exact. Back then I described the Turkey as a haughty blowhard and an awful dinner guest. I still sort of feel this way, and get the sense that I'm not alone in my interpretation of the bird. Why is the Turkey a disliked bird? Maybe it's that many people have had personal negative experiences with Turkeys (being attacked by them is not uncommon in some parts of America). Maybe we need to malign them to separate ourselves from the guilt we feel (subliminally or consciously) for farming them and eating them. Maybe we resent them for encroaching on human territory in an unapologetic and successful way (we also treat pigeons with scorn for doing the same). Today I'm going to focus on a different, more positive interpretation of the Turkey- with some Turkey quotes from my favorite website and yours, backyardchickens.com

"i have a tom who just follows me around like a puppy and he is the nicest turkey ever."

"i got a red bourbon hen about a month ago at auction and she is so sweet she doesnt exactly run up to you she just kind of stays out of your way but she will sit there and talk to you."

"Pros: sweet, docile, and good looking

Cons: none"

"never actually flogged me"

"We named all of our turkeys this year for dragons, so his name, due to respiratory issues, is Puff the Magic"

"In the video is my Royal Palm tom, Gerald, walking in his harness and leash. I have taken him to the pet store, to 4-H meetings and just down the road. Very friendly and easily trained to do about anything." 

And if that's not enough to convince you to take a second look at your Turkey bias, maybe a quote from one of our nation's founders will. Benjamin Franklin's  antipathy toward the Bald Eagle is well documented on this blog, as is his preference for the Turkey. Here is his justification from a letter to his daughter.

There you have it bird fans, if Ben Franklin can love the Turkey for its positive qualities, maybe we can learn to as well. With a perspective, The Amateurnithologist. Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

Light Brahma

Light Brahma aka. Brahma Pootra aka. Burnham aka. Gray Chittagong aka. Shanghai
Castello di Amorosa, Calistoga, California, USA
January 2016
Member of the Junglefowl Family
§A Brood of Chickens§

~true bird fact~ The Brahma, along with another feather-footed chicken called the Cochin brought about a chicken craze in the 1850's in the US and UK that was called HEN FEVER. During this time, he was nicknamed The King of All Poulty (!!!). Perhaps this came from his regal bearing, or, more likely, because he gets to be up to 18 pounds, making him the second largest chicken breed. Many hipsters have hen fever these days as well, so I hope they're still using this terrific nickname.

Gentle-hearted, but project toughness
Gives generously of his considerable wealth
Secretly just wants to be taken care of, pampered
Loves rich foods



Once again we bring you selected Excerpts from customer reviews of the Brahma on BackyardChickens.com. Your favorite feature and mine...

Bird Reviews
Rated #16 in chickens (of approx. 170 breeds), with a 94% positive rating. There are 113+ reviews of this chicken.

"If I were starting my flock over, I'd consider having all Brahmas"

"I love that they are big girls, and their feathered feet"

"Gentle, lovey, wants you to hold her"

"Sometimes her fluffy feet get dirty. A small price to pay to look fancy everyday!"

"I brought her in the house yesterday and fed her peanuts on the couch!!!"

"She thinks she's a dog, and I just love her."

"He loves to snuggle. When I go outside and sit down he immediately will jump on my lap along with the lady brahmas. One day I was standing in the coop and someone was pecking my shoe and then they started tugging on my pant leg! I looked down and Aggie, the rooster, was pulling on me. We made eye contact, he stopped and stood completely still until I picked him up and snuggled with him. I cannot stress enough what a good bird he is. It honestly amazes me. The other day I gave him a bath and be stood still nearly the entire time."

African Goose

African Goose
Kennedy Park, Napa, California, USA
October 2015
Member of the Ducks, Geese, and Swans Family
§A Gaggle of Geese§

~true bird fact~  This bird is a domestic form of the Swan Goose, a bird that is actually not native to Africa, but rather Russia, China, and Kazakhstan. In his native countries, he is listed as vulnerable due to habitat loss and excessive hunting. Every year around 60,000 birds come to breed around the lower Yangtze River area, which may be nearly the entire wild population.


As this is a domestic bird, we get to return to one of my personal favorite features,

Bird Reviews (brought to you by backyardchickens.com- maybe they'll pay me some day if I keep mentioning them)

Rated #10 in Geese, with a 67% positive rating.

"She follows me around, jumps in my lap, gives me goose kisses"

"They are very intimidating to predators. They scared away a raccoon"

"hates everyone that isn't me"

"I always wanted an attack goose now I have one!"

"I must say when I first saw these geese in person I instantly fell in love with them"

"they bite everyone and everything"
  
"don't take too kindly to visitors"

Muscovy Duck

Muscovy Duck aka. Barbary Duck aka. Common Duck aka. Forest Duck aka. Greater Wood Duck aka. pato criollo ("creole duck") aka. pato casero ("backyard duck") and pato mudo ("mute duck")
Key West Botanical Gardens, Key West, Conch Republic
April 2015
Member of the Ducks, Geese, and Swans Family
§A Team of Ducks§

~true bird fact~ There is a lively and ongoing debate in the Jewish community about whether or not Muscovy Ducks are Kosher (permissible for strict Jews to eat). This seems to stem from a rabinical decision in the 1800's by an American rabbi, who banned the ducks. No ban has ever existed for Jews in Israel.

Additional Duck Facts

~Another bird first scientifically described by our friend Carl Linnaeus
~Muscovy Ducks don't quack, they hiss
~Muscovy Duck liver and heart are ingredients in Homeopathic medicine, said to relieve flu symptoms
~The name comes from their musky smell, seemingly. There is some debate on this topic.
~Considered an invasive species in most parts of the US, they are sometimes destroyed by wildlife services. The exception to this is in some parts of southern Florida and Texas where they are considered 'close enough' to native. The duck's usual home is Central and South America.
~Muscovy ducks have an unusually detailed wikipedia page, where most of this information is from



And now, a new feature for us here on Amateurnithologist: Selected Excerpts from customer reviews on BackyardChickens.com. We call it...

Bird Reviews
Rated #2 in ducks (!!!)

"My ducks dance where ever they go"

"Cons: creepy looking and smelly "

"These are my best ducks and are great mothers, very sweet, have beautiful babies"

"very laid back"

"I will go outside and they will be up in the front yard just doing duck things"

"We love our Muscovy drake but he is very very randy. He will try to mate with any bird he can get his beak on, which made for an awkward situation with the neighbor"

"I did not like him at all, He was huge and had very sharp nails"

"They can be a little shy at first but once they see you enough they warm right up to you and love you almost instantly"