Mystery Duck

Armed with half a loaf of bread and a DSLR camera, I made a visit to the Taylor Dam this morning. The object of the exercise was to feed the black swans and other bird-life and shoot off a few frames whilst doing so.
There were two ducks paddling around that were a mystery to me. I had never seen anything like them at the Dam before. So I photographed them and then spent time this afternoon searching through my books on New Zealand birds and the internet trying to identify them. No luck! I then phoned some of my bird-fancier/photographer friends for assistance. Eventually I emailed some images to them and at last the answer came back via a phone call. “They are Muscovy ducks.”
I found a brief item on the internet of interest:
“A breed apart…
Originating in the warm climates of South America, the Muscovy duck is a breed apart from the rest. It is by far the leanest domesticated duck breed. Long the favourite of Europeans, the Muscovy is now the duck of choice in the United States.”(For eating).
The two Muscovy ducks at the Taylor Dam are almost certainly females as apparently the male ducks are much bigger and do not like to fly any distance.
I will be looking out for these ducks when I visit the Dam in future.