Newsletter 2020

Wild
Muscovy
Duck
(Cairina
moschata)
at The
P-a-P
Wildfowl
Trust
Family Anatidae sp. Pato Real. These
pure bred wild ducks, though large
and powerful fly very high and roost
in trees and inhabit wetland forests.
They nest in holes high up in trees
and are usually found in small flocks
in their natural habitat, the Nariva
Swamp.
The trust wild species of the Muscovy Duck, which is the source of the common duck or common
Muscovy Duck was almost exterminated in the 1930’s. In the 1500’s when the Spaniards first came
to Trinidad and South America they discovered that native Indians had semi-domesticated the huge
wild form of Muscovy and Columbus remarked that the natives had “ most strange ducks as large as
geese”. He took the birds back to Europe and then out of these the common duck as well as other
forms we know today were bred. More than 9000 pure bred wild birds have been bred at the PAP
Wildfowl Trust and released into natural existing wetland habitats in Trinidad W.I.
Wild Muscovy ducks (Cairina moschata)1985-
June 2020…..9125 birds Bred and Released
into their Natural Environment.
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