American Pekin Duck, Anas platyrhynchos domestica
American Pekin Duck, Anas platyrhynchos domestica. Birds photographed within Bosque de San Juan de Aragón, Mexico City, April 2021. Photographs courtesy of Marina Sutormina, Stockholm, Sweden.
Background and Identification
The American Pekin Duck, Anas platyrhynchos domestica, is a member of the Anatidae Family of Ducks, Geese, and Waterfowl that was domesticated 3,000 years ago in China from the Mallard Duck, Anas playtyrhynchos. It is famous for being a popular component of Chinese cuisine for centuries and is a national symbol of China. They are the most popular domesticated duck in the United States. They were first imported into the United States in 1873 and raised and bred in the late 19th and early 20th centuries in Long Island. They are raised extensively for their eggs and meat. Males and females can reach adult weight in only seven weeks. 95% of all duck meat sold in the United States is American Pekin. They are also raised for their down feathers. Dubbed as popular household pets, they rid gardens of harmful bugs, and are similar to dogs that follow their owners around. The American Pekin has a life span of 10 to 15 years. The Aflac Duck and the American folk hero Donald Duck are American Pekin Ducks. Other names for the American Pekin are the Anas Pekin Duck, the Domesticated Duck, the Long Island Duck, the Pekin, the White Duck, and the White Pekin. In Mexico, they are called Anade Azulón Doméstico.
The American Pekin is large and solid in stature. They are sexually dimorphic in both color and size. They are a uniform white color with a short, straight, yellow beak and yellowish-orange legs and feet. The males have a curled tail feather. Their heads are large and rounded and their neck is thick. Their bodies are rectangular with an upturned rump with their tails projecting above the body. They have specialized webbed feet designed for paddling. The males are larger than the females and weigh up to 4.5 kg (9 lbs 14 oz) in weight. The vast majority are heavy and cannot fly.
Habitat and Geographical Range
The American Pekin are gregarious and can be found in conspecific groups or mixed in with other species of ducks. They are active diurnally. They are found in the wild in wetlands and slow-moving water bodies and in captivity. In the wild, they feed on larvae, aquatic animals, crabs, small fish, plant material, seeds, and snails found on the surface of the water or under rocks and plant material. They lack teeth but have serrations in their bills that allow them to filter out of the water. Their feet are adapted for paddling on water, but they can also waddle on land for exploring and foraging. Wild birds breed in the spring; birds in captivity are prolific breeders breeding year-round with each female laying up to 200 eggs each year. They frequently “preen” to remove parasites from their feathers, to maintain waterproofing of the outer feathers, and to add oil to their feathers that allow “water to run off a duck’s back”.
Conservation Status
From a conservation perspective, the American Pekin Duck is categorized by the IUCN as Least Concern with stable, widely distributed populations. In Mexico, the American Pekin Duck can be found in all freshwater bodies throughout the country. The majority found in the wild are “Easter ducklings” that mature quickly into messy adults and are usually abandoned in local ponds.