Aquatic Birds

The Rest Of The Story

Saw the peculiar wood duck again but this time I know what I'm looking at since I researched it last time. She is an intersex duck with colors and plumage of both male and female. Brown eye, white eye ring and lack of chin strap are female markings while colorful beak and colorful head crest is like a male. I found out that in birds, the chromosomal sex-determination is reversed, making the default development male. When estrogen levels are suppressed with age, that default shows up, since they're growing in their feathers every year. Apparently that works for beak color too.
Intersex Female Wood Duck (Aix sponsa)

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