Muscovy Ducks in Puriscal, Costa Rica

Mario greeted me while I was in the chicken palace. He always says the same greeting - Buenos días. ¿Como amaneció? - Good morning, how did you wake up? He quickly went through the greeting and then in a very excited voice told me something that I didn't completely understand. I heard the word for roof and a word for foot. A Spanish word for foot is pata, pata also means duck and when he initially said the word my mind went to foot. I asked him if it was the roof at his house or mine, he said mine. He pointed at the roof of our house and on top of it was a black duck.  Now I was clear what he was taking about and I went to investigate the duck on the roof.

Muscovy Duck in Rio Viejo, Puriscal, Costa Rica

I see ducks at the river a few times a year. On occasion I have seen them by our house. My bird book shows fifteen different types of ducks that live here all year, or part time. The type I most often see is the Muscovy Duck. This is the same kind of duck people raise domestically. On the drive to town I often see a small flock in a creek and I am certain someone nearby claims ownership of those ducks.

Once a completely white duck showed up at our river. It's wings were clipped which made it very vulnerable. I saw it several days in a row and decided to try to lure it to me and catch it but my plans were thwarted when the neighbor dogs tagged along for the walk. I distracted the dogs and ushered all of us back home.

The duck on the roof appeared tame and walked towards me. He drank from the gutter and after a while he flew off. A short time later he came back but this time on the ground near the gate. He was walking around when Kitty saw him and began stalking the bird. I made a noise and the duck flew away. I haven't seen him since. I wasn't prepared to photograph the duck and didn't have the camera settings just right, so they are a little blurry.