What kind of duck is this supposed to be?
April 29, 2015 2:18 PM   Subscribe

I need to know what kind of real-world duck this children's book illustration depicts.

The book is "In the Small, Small Pond" by Denise Fleming. All of the other books in the story have real-world counterparts. I am doing a project that involves finding photos and facts for these animals. It will be exceedingly strange if the duck has no identification.
The picture is here.
I have asked Ms Fleming for information on her facebook page, but I haven't heard anything yet.
In the meantime, I have been combing bird ID sites and coming up empty. There are no blue ducks with red beaks, as far as I can tell.
Thanks!
posted by Biblio to Science & Nature (9 answers total)
 
Mandarin ducks are blueish and have red beaks and are freaking adorable to boot.
posted by phunniemee at 2:21 PM on April 29, 2015


The Rosy-Billed Pochard is a reasonable match, as long as the colors are a little abstract, and blue can stand for black... they have the lighter wings and the red beaks.
posted by brainmouse at 2:25 PM on April 29, 2015


Mariana moorhen?
posted by Sassyfras at 2:34 PM on April 29, 2015


Best answer: Or a black bellied whistling duck.
posted by Sassyfras at 2:43 PM on April 29, 2015


Possibly a purple or common gallinule but the legs are the wrong colour and the bill colours are opposite.
posted by hydrobatidae at 3:53 PM on April 29, 2015


Response by poster: I'm going with the whistling duck unless I can be otherwise persuaded in the next 15 minutes. (I already made an executive decision that the neon-green frog on every page must be a Northern Green Frog, because it's literally the only green-ish aquatic frog in the US. But now I have a duck in the pond that lives in a completely different part of the country!)
This is a Caldecott Honor Book that tons of preschools use in their science curriculum. Has no one noticed the imaginary duck? I can't believe I have to go stick pages from this story around in a park now that it irritates me so...
The worst part is that I'm committed to the project through a STEAM grant I got.
Oh, well, thanks everyone!
posted by Biblio at 4:10 PM on April 29, 2015


gosh, I thought it looked like a pukeko, but a pukeko isn't a duck. pretty bird, though.

What does the frog look like?
posted by monkeymonkey at 4:19 PM on April 29, 2015


Response by poster: I hope it's not a Pukeko, because there's no way I can explain why it's living with a racoon and Canada Geese.
The frog is here. It doesn't really look like a Northern Green Frog, but I needed to commit to something. I'm doing this for a storywalk, so hopefully people are too busy running from page to page to notice.
posted by Biblio at 4:37 PM on April 29, 2015


Response by poster: Oh, this is funny. Whistling ducks don't dabble.
posted by Biblio at 4:40 PM on April 29, 2015 [1 favorite]


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