View source for Call duck

{{short description|Breed of domestic duck}}
{{use British English|date=June 2025}}
{{use dmy dates|date=November 2022}}
{{infobox poultry breed
| name          = Call
| image         = Witte kwaker.jpg
| image_size    =
| image_alt     = 
| image_caption =
| status        = {{ubl|[[FAO]] (2007): not at risk{{r|barb|p=141}}|[[DAD-IS]] (2022): at risk{{r|dad2}}|[[Stichting Zeldzame Huisdierrassen|SZH]] (2022): threatened{{r|szh}}}}
| altname       = Call Duck
| country       = 
| distribution  = {{ubl|Ireland|Netherlands|United Kingdom{{r|dad2}}}}
| standard      =
| use           = {{ubl|[[ornamental bird|ornament]]|[[poultry show|showing]]}}
| weight        = 
| maleweight    = 
| femaleweight  =
| colour        = about twenty recognised colours{{r|nps|bwa}}
| skincolour    =
| eggcolour     =
| comb          =
| apa           = {{r|apa|p=18}}
| aba           = 
| ee            = no{{r|ee}}
| pcgb          = {{r|pcgb2}}
| aps           =
| type          = Duck
| latin         = Anas platyrhynchos domesticus
}}

[[File:Cute little call duck.jpg|thumb|At a show]]
The '''Call''' is a historic [[List of duck breeds|breed]] of small [[domestic duck]].{{r|dave|ashton|roberts}} It is believed to have originated in the [[Netherlands]], where the earliest descriptions and depictions of it date from the seventeenth century. It is similar in appearance to some other breeds of duck, but is much smaller, with a round head and very short bill. Ducks, but not drakes, are very loquacious and noisy, with a piercing high-pitched call that can be heard from far away and from which the name derives.{{r|ashton2|p=88|dave2|nolan|p3=157}}

The Call was in the past used as a [[decoy duck (bird)|decoy duck]] to attract wild ducks into traps.

== History ==
[[File:Adult white call duck drake.jpg|thumb|Adult drake]]
The first recorded mentions of the breed are from the [[Netherlands]] where it was used as a decoy and known as a coy or decoy duck. The high-pitched distinctive call was used to lure other ducks into [[funnel trap]]s. Later, hunters would tether call ducks to draw other species within range. It is believed to have originally come from the Far East, although no records of its introduction to the Netherlands exist. Other bantam breeds are known to have been imported to the Netherlands in the seventeenth century and Van Gink, writing in ''The Feathered World'' in 1932, supposes "There is a possibility that importations were made by Dutch captains from Japan ... especially as the Call Duck's type is very different from the ordinary European type of duck to sport from it, and since they breed so true they must be a very old-established breed."

The Call was present in the British Isles by the mid-nineteenth century; an early description is that of [[James Joseph Nolan]], published in Dublin in 1850.{{r|nolan|p=157}} It was among the four breeds of duck included in the first [[poultry standard]] – the ''Standard of Excellence'' of [[William Bernhardt Tegetmeier]] – in 1865.{{r|teget|p=54}}

== Characteristics ==

The Call is small, with an average weight of approximately {{val|800|u=g}}; drakes may weigh up to {{val|100|u=g}} more, and ducks up to {{val|100|u=g}} less.{{r|nps}}

In the Netherlands about twenty colours are recognised;{{r|nps}} about the same number are recognised by the British Waterfowl Association and the [[Poultry Club of Great Britain]] in the United Kingdom.{{r|bwa|allonby|p2=410}}{{efn|name=a}} In the United States the grey and white varieties were included in the first ''[[Standard of Perfection]]'' of the [[American Poultry Association]] in 1874; six other colours were added between 1977 and 2007.{{r|apa}}

=== Australian Call Duck ===

In the second edition of the ''[[Australian Poultry Standards]]'', published in 2011, the Australian Call Duck is described as a separate breed from the Call Duck of Europe, with a different range of plumage colours and a rather larger body size. It is claimed that it developed in South Australia as a mutation in the domestic [[mallard]].<ref>{{cite journal |journal=Australasian Poultry |title = The Australian Call Duck | first = Hamish | last = Russell | volume = 21 | issue = 2 |date=June–July 2010|pages=22–23}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Australian Poultry Standards|date=2011|publisher=Victorian Poultry Fanciers Association (trading as Poultry Stud Breeders and Exhibitors Victoria)|isbn=978-1-921488-23-8|pages=236–243|edition=2nd}}</ref>

== Notes ==

{{notelist|refs=

{{efn|name=a|These include: abacot, Appleyard, apricot, apricot Appleyard (butterscotch), apricot silver, bibbed, black, blue fawn, blue silver, chocolate, chocolate mallard, chocolate silver, dark silver, dusky mallard, khaki (dusky chocolate mallard), magpie, mallard, pied, silver, white and yellow belly.{{r|allonby|p=410}}}}

}}

== References ==
{{commonscat}}
{{reflist|45em|refs=

<ref name=allonby>J. Ian H. Allonby, Philippe B. Wilson (editors) (2018). [https://books.google.it/books?id=A6BtDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA489&hl=en ''British Poultry Standards: complete specifications and judging points of all standardized breeds and varieties of poultry as compiled by the specialist breed clubs and recognised by the Poultry Club of Great Britain''], seventh edition. Chichester; Hoboken, New Jersey: Wiley Blackwell. {{isbn|9781119509141}}.</ref>

<ref name=apa>[https://web.archive.org/web/20171104135004/http://www.amerpoultryassn.com/PDF%20Forms/APA%20Recognized%20Breeds%20and%20Varieties%20Sept2012.pdf APA Recognized Breeds and Varieties: As of January 1, 2012]. American Poultry Association. Archived 4 November 2017.</ref>

<ref name=ashton>Chris Ashton, Mike Ashton (2001). [https://books.google.it/books?id=asIoCAAAQBAJ&pg=PT186&hl=en ''The Domestic Duck'']. Ramsbury, Marlborough: The Crowood Press. {{isbn|9781847979704}}.</ref>

<ref name=ashton2>Chris Ashton, Mike Ashton (2009). [https://archive.org/details/keepingducksgees0000asht/page/88/mode/1up ''Keeping Ducks and Geese'']. Cincinnati, Ohio: David & Charles. {{isbn|9780715331576}}.</ref>

<ref name=barb>Barbara Rischkowsky, Dafydd Pilling (editors) (2007). [https://web.archive.org/web/20200623201209/http://www.fao.org/3/a1250e/annexes/List%20of%20breeds%20documented%20in%20the%20Global%20Databank%20for%20Animal%20Genetic%20Resources/List_breeds.pdf List of breeds documented in the Global Databank for Animal Genetic Resources], annex to [https://web.archive.org/web/20170110125634/http://www.fao.org/3/a-a1250e.pdf ''The State of the World's Animal Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture'']. Rome: Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. {{isbn|9789251057629}}. Archived 23 June 2020.</ref>

<ref name=bwa>[https://www.waterfowl.org.uk/domestic-waterfowl/call-ducks/ Call ducks]. British Waterfowl Association. Accessed August 2022.</ref>

<ref name=dad2>[https://dadis-transboundary-ext-ws.web.app/?species=Duck%20(domestic)&transboundary=Call&lang=en Transboundary breed: Call]. Domestic Animal Diversity Information System of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Accessed August 2022.</ref>

<ref name=dave>Dave Holderread (2001). [https://archive.org/details/storeysguidetora00dave/page/24/mode/1up ''Storey's Guide to Raising Ducks'']. North Adams, Massachusetts: Storey Publishing. {{isbn|158017258X}}.</ref>

<ref name=dave2>Dave Holderread (2011). [https://books.google.it/books?id=sB6g95tyzg4C&hl=en ''Storey's Guide to Raising Ducks''], second edition. North Adams, Massachusetts: Storey Publishing. {{isbn|9781603427456}}.</ref>

<ref name=ee>[https://web.archive.org/web/20130616062803/http://www.entente-ee.com/deutsch/sparten/gefluegel/dateien/2013/Verzeichnis%20R%20F%2028042013.xls Liste des races et variétés homologuée dans les pays EE (28.04.2013)]. Entente Européenne d’Aviculture et de Cuniculture. Archived 16 June 2013.</ref>

<ref name=nolan>James Joseph Nolan (1850). [https://archive.org/details/ornamentalaquat00nolagoog/page/n168/mode/1up ''Ornamental, Aquatic, and Domestic Fowl, and Game Birds: Their Importation, Breeding, Rearing, and General Management'']. Dublin: The Author.</ref>

<ref name=nps>Jan van Pieterson (August 2012). [https://web.archive.org/web/20160525042406/http://www.nederlandsepluimveesoc.com/Kwaker.html De Kwaker] (in Dutch). European Poultry Society. Archived 25 May 2016.</ref>

<ref name=pcgb2>[https://web.archive.org/web/20181109121231/http://www.poultryclub.org/breed-gallery/ducks/ Ducks]. Poultry Club of Great Britain. Archived 9 November 2018.</ref>

<ref name=roberts>Victoria Roberts (2008). [https://books.google.it/books?id=nAfyUHY42u0C&hl=en ''British Poultry Standards: complete specifications and judging points of all standardized breeds and varieties of poultry as compiled by the specialist breed clubs and recognised by the Poultry Club of Great Britain''], sixth edition. Oxford: Blackwell. {{isbn|9781405156424}}.</ref>

<ref name=szh>[https://web.archive.org/web/20170820032514/http://szh.nl/eenden/hollandse-kwaker/ Hollandse Kwaker] (in Dutch). Wageningen: Stichting Zeldzame Huisdierrassen. Archived 20 August 2017.</ref>

<ref name=teget>William Bernhardt Tegetmeier (editor) (1865). [https://archive.org/details/standardexcelle00tegegoog ''The Standard of Excellence in Exhibition Poultry, authorized by the Poultry Club'']. London: Groombridge and Sons, for the Poultry Club.</ref>

}}

[[Category:Duck breeds]]
[[Category:Animal breeds originating in Australia]]
[[Category:Duck breeds originating in the Netherlands]]

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