[EBB Sightings] Topknot ducks

bacpab at comcast.net wrote:
> Dear EBB;
> 
> Can one of the resident experts tell me about the mixed-up ducks that
> you occasionally see with the topknot of feathers on the head?  They
> are clearly a cross with a domestic duck, but why the topknot, and is
> it feathers or bone?  Not having any luck with on-line research.

They're called "crested ducks" - feed that term to Google Images to see 
lots of pics.

As I understand it, they're a domestic breed, cultivated for their weird 
appearance - even though the feather beret is the signifier of a 
mutation that may be safely inherited from only one parent. With two 
copies of the mutated gene, the embryo dies in the egg.

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