Call
DuckTrue bantam
Call ducks earned their name doing a job that is now illegal: Dutch hunters kept them for their piercingly loud, incessant call, tethering them on ponds to pull wild flocks into netted decoy traps. Bred down to under a pound and a half with a tiny round head and a stub of a bill, they are the bantam of the duck world and now purely an exhibition and pet breed, shown in more colour varieties than any other duck. They are affectionate, tame quickly, brood and mother reliably, and are small enough for a modest yard — but two things catch new keepers out: they fly strongly and will leave an unnetted pen, and the females are, by a wide margin, the loudest birds in this list. That volume is the whole reason the breed exists, so it cannot be trained out.
Weight
How to spot it
- Bill
- Very short, broad and almost square — under 2 inches, the breed's defining trait
- Carriage
- Compact and boat-like, carried well up, with a round 'apple' head
- Plumage
- Dozens of recognised varieties, from white and grey to snowy, pastel and butterscotch
- Legs & feet
- Short, orange, set centrally under a rounded body
- Look for
- A duck the size of a pigeon-chested football, with a stubby bill and a very large voice
Varieties
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28 providers currently list Call.
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