Magpie duck

File:FemaleMagpieDuck.jpg

A typical duck

File:Magpie (duck) drake 2011-08-24 001.jpg

Head of a drake, showing undesirable black spotting

The Magpie is a British breed of domestic duck.Template:R It has distinctive black and white markings reminiscent of the European magpie, and is a good layer of large eggs.Template:R

History

The Magpie was bred after the end of the First World War by M.C. Gower-Williams in Wales and Oliver Drake in Yorkshire.Template:R The ancestry of the breed is not known; it may have included the Indian Runner, possibly with some influence of the Huttegem of Belgium. The Magpie was first described in 1921;Template:R a breeders' club was formed in 1926,Template:R and a breed standard published in a supplement to the Poultry Club Standards in that year.Template:R At that time, two colour varieties were recognised by the club, the black-and-white and the blue-and-white. The black-and-white variant remained the only colour recognised by the Poultry Club of Great Britain until 1997, when blue-and-white and dun-and-white were recognised;Template:R the chocolate-and-white variant, developed by breeders in Germany, was later added.Template:R

The Altrheiner Elsterenten, a duck with the same plumage pattern as the Magpie, was bred in Germany in the 1970s by Paul-Erwin Oswald.Template:R The Entente Européenne treats it as the same breed.Template:R

The Magpie was exported to the United States in 1963,Template:R but was not widely kept. It was admitted to the American Standard of Perfection in 1977.Template:R

The conservation status of the Magpie is not clear: it was listed as 'critical' by the FAO in 2007,Template:R and as 'unknown' in the DAD-IS database in 2022.Template:R It was not among the breeds listed as 'priority' on the 2021–2-22 watchlist of the Rare Breeds Survival Trust.Template:R The most recent population data reported to DAD-IS dates from 2002, when the total number of birds was estimated to be between 60 and 100.Template:R

Characteristics

The Magpie was originally bred to have black-and-white markings reminiscent of those of the magpie, Pica pica:Template:R White, with black on the top of the head, a black back and tail, and black scapulars which form a heart-shaped black area on the back when the wings are folded.Template:R With age the black may become flecked with white or wholly white.Template:R Three other colour varieties with the same pattern are recognised by the Poultry Club of Great Britain: blue-and-white, dun-and-white and chocolate-and-white.Template:R

The birds are of medium size; drakes weigh some , ducks . The body is carried at an angle of about 35° to the horizontal when the bird is in motion.Template:R The neck is long and curved, the breast full, and the back broad. The bill is broad and long; it is yellow when the bird is young, turning with age to grey-green in ducks and green-spotted yellow in drakes.Template:R The legs and feet are orange, sometimes with dark mottling.Template:R

The American Poultry Association recognises only the blue and black colour varieties, and recommends a slightly lower body weight.Template:R

Use

The Magpie is commonly reared for showing. It was originally bred as a commercial or utility bird, to provide meat and eggs.Template:R As the breast is white, the carcase plucks cleanly.Template:R Ducks lay approximately 80 eggs per year; they vary in colour from white to pale green, and weigh about .Template:R The 'Paramount' strain reared by Oliver Drake in the early twentieth century reportedly laid 185 eggs per year, and reached slaughter weight in about 11 weeks.Template:R