Magpie

UNDER CONSTRUCTION

Magpie
Origin	Category	Egg Colour	Sitter
England	Light Breed Duck	White	Yes

A Magpie Drake from Feathered World's book 'Ducks'.

Duck Points Scale from Universal Waterfowl Standards by Grow, O (1956).

An English duck, which formerly enjoyed a considerable following, but has become a rarely-kept rare breed is the Magpie duck, a black and white breed of rather racy appearance and medium size, with a moderately uptight carriage.

The Magpie was bred after the end of the First World War by M.C. Gower-Williams in Wales and Oliver Drake in Yorkshire.The ancestry of the breed is not known; it may have included the Indian Runner. The Magpie duck colour pattern was developed to help achieve birds which would show no dark stubs on its breast when plucked out.

The Magpie is first documented in 1920; a breeders' club was formed in 1926. At that time, two colour varieties were recognised, black-and-white and blue-and-white.

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

The early strain, it was said, would produce 185 large eggs a year and achieve 4-6lbs in weight at 11 weeks old. They are a hardy variety, active foragers, and live for approximately 9 to 12 years.

GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS

Similar in shape to the Khaki Campbell, but more substantial, the Magpie is moderately streamlined with a somewhat upright carriage that suggests Indian Runner duck in its ancestral bloodline.

The chest is rounded and the neck moderately long.

Males have, when fully feathered, curled feathers on the tail. Females have, when fully feathered, straight feathers on the tail.

COLOUR

Named for its distinctive black and white plumage, reminiscent of the colouration of the European magpie, the typical example of the breed is predominantly white with two large black areas on the back and top of the head. The colour pattern is that the head has a coloured cap above the eyes and the back and the tail are the same with the shoulders also being coloured in a heart shape across the back. The remainder should be white. As the bird ages the black cap will normally begin to be flecked with white and may eventually become completely white.

Blue, silver and chocolate which is very rare, are also colour varieties that Magpies can come in. However, blue is the only other variety besides black that is recognised by the American Poultry Association. In Australia only the Black is recognised.

The Black is a rich black, the Blue of a light shade and the Dun could be described as a light fawn with a greyish tinge. The Chocolate and White was added at a later time in Germany.

The bill is yellow or orange, but turns green in older birds.

The legs and feet are orange but some spots or mottling are permissible..

WEIGHTS

• Males weigh around 2.7 kg (6.0 lb) on average,
• Females around 2.5 kg (5 1⁄2 lb),

Note: the American standard specifies 1 pound (0.45 kg) lower for each.

SERIOUS DEFECTS

See Disqualifications

SOURCES

• Australian Poultry Standards 2nd edition

• https://web.archive.org/web/20170630132859/http://www.poultryclub.org/img/Breed%20Classification.pdf

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magpie_duck

• Grow, O. (1956). Universal waterfowl standard and judging guide. Milwaukee: American Waterfowl Assoc., inc. https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=coo.31924003128190&view=1up&seq=9

• Ives, Paul Pomeroy. Domestic Ducks and Geese. 1887