Description
Adult males are 60 to 70 cm long and have a distinctive large, leathery lobe underneath the bill; females are 47 to 55 cm long and unadorned. Their drab dark grey-brown, sightly pin-striped plumage is unconspicuous and does not differ between the sexes. Musk Ducks float very low in the water, almost like a cormorant, and the large webbed feet are well back on the body. The ducklings are covered in dark brown down.
In its native range, the fanned tail is distinctive, allowing to distinguish this species from the Freckled Duck (Stictonetta naevosa) which has similar size, coloration and habits. The Blue-billed Duck (Oxyura australis) has a similarly shaped tail but the main colour of its males in breeding plumage is a much richer chestnut brown. Females and males in nonbreeding plumage are very similar however and if one is not intimately familiar with the slight differences in behavior, they cannot be told apart from female Musk Ducks at a distance. Male Musk Ducks in the breeding season are usually unmistakable due to the large bill lobe.
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