The Cayuga is an American breed of

domestic duck The domestic duck or domestic mallard (''Anas platyrhynchos domesticus'') is a subspecies of mallard that has been domesticated by humans and raised for meat, eggs, and down feathers. A few are also kept for show, as pets, or for their ornament ...

. It was introduced to the

Finger Lakes The Finger Lakes are a group of eleven long, narrow, roughly north–south lakes located south of Lake Ontario in an area called the ''Finger Lakes region'' in New York, in the United States. This region straddles the northern and transitional ...

region of

New York State New York, officially the State of New York, is a U.S. state, state in the Northeastern United States. It is often called New York State to distinguish it from its largest city, New York City. With a total area of , New York is the List of U.S. ...

in about 1840, and is named for the

Cayuga Cayuga often refers to: * Cayuga people, a native tribe to North America, part of the Iroquois Confederacy * Cayuga language, the language of the Cayuga Cayuga may also refer to: Places Canada * Cayuga, Ontario United States * Cayuga, Illinois ...

people of that area. Until the last years of the nineteenth century it was the principal duck reared for meat in the United States. In the twenty-first century it is kept mainly for ornament.

History

The origins of the Cayuga are obscure. A much-repeated theory that it descends not from the

mallard The mallard () or wild duck (''Anas platyrhynchos'') is a dabbling duck that breeds throughout the temperate and subtropical Americas, Eurasia, and North Africa, and has been introduced to New Zealand, Australia, Peru, Brazil, Uruguay, Arge ...

like almost all domestic ducks, but from '' Anas rubripes'', the American black duck, remains unsubstantiated and unverified by any scientific evidence. Unlike ''Anas rubripes'', the Cayuga is a true black in color; this color is the result of a

genetic mutation In biology, a mutation is an alteration in the nucleic acid sequence of the genome of an organism, virus, or extrachromosomal DNA. Viral genomes contain either DNA or RNA. Mutations result from errors during DNA or viral replication, mitosi ...

fairly common in breeds derived from ''Anas platyrhynchos''. The Cayuga has other characteristics compatible with derivation from the Mallard; in particular, it shows the typical curled "drake feather" in the tail, while ''Anas rubripes'' does not. In about 1840, one John S. Clark obtained some ducks of this type in

Orange County, New York Orange County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 401,310. The county seat is Goshen. This county was first created in 1683 and reorganized with its present boundaries in 1798. Orange ...

, and took them to Cayuga County in the

region of

. The breed is named for the indigenous

people of the area. The Cayuga was included in the first edition of the '' American Standard of Perfection'' in 1874. It was first exported to the United Kingdom in 1851; the first British standard was published in 1901. In the second half of the nineteenth century it became the principal duck breed reared for meat in the United States, but from about 1890 was rapidly displaced by the

American Pekin The Pekin or White Pekin is an American breed of domestic duck, raised primarily for meat. It derives from birds brought to the United States from China in the nineteenth century, and is now bred in many parts of the world. It is often known a ...

. Its

conservation status The conservation status of a group of organisms (for instance, a species) indicates whether the group still exists and how likely the group is to become extinct in the near future. Many factors are taken into account when assessing conservatio ...

world-wide was listed by the FAO in 2007 as "not at risk". In 2008 its status in the United States was listed as "threatened" by the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy (now The Livestock Conservancy); in 2020 it was listed as "watch".

Characteristics

The Cayuga is a medium to heavy duck; standard weights are for adult drakes and for ducks. The

plumage Plumage ( "feather") is a layer of feathers that covers a bird and the pattern, colour, and arrangement of those feathers. The pattern and colours of plumage differ between species and subspecies and may vary with age classes. Within species, ...

is black with iridescent beetle-green lights; particularly in ducks, some feathers may fade or whiten as the bird ages, which can be a disqualifying fault for showing. The bill, legs and feet are black or as nearly so as possible; the eyes are dark brown.

Use

The Cayuga is a meat-type duck. In the second half of the nineteenth century it became the principal duck breed reared for meat in the United States. From about 1890 it began to be displaced by the

, which did not have the black pinfeathers of the Cayuga and so was easier to pluck and clean for sale. In the twenty-first century it may be reared for meat and eggs, but is most often kept for ornament or for showing. Ducks may lay some 100–150 large eggs per year. At the beginning of the laying season the eggs are dark and may be almost black; they gradually lighten to the usual pale greenish blue or almost to white by the end of the season. If they are to be hatched, the incubation time for the eggs is 28 days. The feathers may be used in the tying of fishing flies.

References

{{Reflist, 45em, refs= .n.(August 2010)
The Cayuga Black Duck Today
''Aviculture Europe''. 6 (4), article 10, second part. Accessed December 2020.
American Livestock Breeds Conservancy (now The Livestock Conservancy). Archived 11 May 2008. J. Ian H. Allonby, Philippe B. Wilson (editors) (2018)
''British Poultry Standards: complete specifications and judging points of all standardized breeds and varieties of poultry as compiled by the specialist breed clubs and recognised by the Poultry Club of Great Britain''
seventh edition. Chichester; Hoboken, New Jersey: Wiley Blackwell. {{ISBN, 9781119509141. APA Recognized Breeds and Varieties: As of January 1, 2012
American Poultry Association. Archived 4 November 2017. Barbara Rischkowsky, Dafydd Pilling (editors) (2007)
List of breeds documented in the Global Databank for Animal Genetic Resources
annex t
''The State of the World's Animal Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture''
Rome: Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. {{ISBN, 9789251057629. Archived 23 June 2020. Dave Holderread (2011)
''Storey's Guide to Raising Ducks''
second edition. North Adams, Massachusetts: Storey Publishing. {{ISBN, 9781603427456. Liste des races et variétés homologuée dans les pays EE (28.04.2013)
Entente Européenne d’Aviculture et de Cuniculture. Archived 16 June 2013. Carol Ekarius (2007)
''Storey's Illustrated Guide to Poultry Breeds''
North Adams, Massachusetts: Storey Publishing. {{isbn, 9781580176675. Janet Vorwald Dohner (2001). ''The Encyclopedia of Historic and Endangered Livestock and Poultry Breeds''. New Haven, Connecticut; London: Yale University Press. {{isbn, 0300088809. Breed Classification
Poultry Club of Great Britain. Archived 12 June 2018. Ducks
Poultry Club of Great Britain. Archived 9 November 2018. Cayuga
Kenilworth, Warwickshire: Rare Breeds Survival Trust. Accessed December 2020. Victoria Roberts (2008)
''British Poultry Standards: complete specifications and judging points of all standardized breeds and varieties of poultry as compiled by the specialist breed clubs and recognised by the Poultry Club of Great Britain''
sixth edition. Oxford: Blackwell. {{ISBN, 9781405156424. Plymouth Rock Chicken
The Livestock Conservancy. Archived 10 October 2016. Duck breeds Duck breeds originating in the United States Conservation Priority Breeds of the Livestock Conservancy Animal breeds on the RBST Watchlist pt:Pato#Híbridos