Welsh Harlequin

Welsh Harlequin
Duck with ducklings
Conservation status
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Traits
Weight
  • Male:
    2.3–2.5 kg
  • Female:
    2.0–2.3 kg
Classification
APAyes[5]: 19 
EEyes[6]
PCGBlight[7][8]
  • Duck
  • Anas platyrhynchos

The Welsh Harlequin is a British breed of domestic duck.[9][10][11] It was bred from 1949 in Hertfordshire by Leslie Bonnet from two colour mutations he found in his flock of Khaki Campbells;[12]: 83  the results were initially known as Honey Campbells, but were renamed 'Welsh Harlequin' after Bonnet moved with his family to Wales.[13]: 486  It has no connection to the Icelandic wild duck species Histrionicus histrionicus.[14]: 87 

History

The Welsh Harlequin was bred in the years after the Second World War by Leslie Bonnet, a group captain in the Royal Air Force, at his family home in the village of Flaunden, in Hertfordshire.[14]: 87 [15]: 133  He had kept chickens, but had trouble with coccidiosis and so switched to Khaki Campbell ducks. In 1949 two ducklings of an unusual honey colour – the result of a colour mutation – were hatched in his flock.[14]: 87 [16]: 115 [17]: 42  From them he started a line of honey-coloured birds which he called 'Honey Campbells'.[14]: 87  Not long afterwards he moved his family and his flock of ducks to Criccieth, in Gwynedd in north-west Wales; in about 1950 he renamed his honey-coloured stock 'Welsh Harlequin', reportedly in the hope of selling some to a wealthy local landowner who kept only Welsh breeds.[14]: 87  The breed became well-known; Bonnet sold stock to many parts of the world and at times may have had 5000 birds in his flock.[14]: 87 [17]: 42 

He also bred another line – the offspring of two ducks of Aylesbury type and a Harlequin drake – to create what he called the 'Whalesbury Hybrid', a heavier bird which he hoped would yield more meat. In colour it was more variable than the Harlequin and more similar to the Abacot Ranger.[14]: 88 [12]: 83  In 1968 his flock was critically reduced by foxes, and he combined the two lines, naming the resulting mixed stock the 'New Welsh Harlequin'.[14]: 88 [12]: 83 

The modern breed descends from some birds of Bonnet's original stock bought from him in 1963 by Edward Grayson of Rufford, near Ormskirk in Lancashire. From about 1983 Grayson bred these with Khaki Campbells of the original type – from which they differed only in colouration – and succeeded in re-establishing a stable colour form similar to the original.[18] He also contributed to the formation of a breed society, the Welsh Harlequin Duck Club, which drew up a revised breed standard to replace that published in 1982 by the Poultry Club of Great Britain, which was considered to be inaccurate; this standard was accepted by the British Waterfowl Association in 1987, and was published by the Poultry Club of Great Britain 1997.[14]: 88 [12]: 83  The breed became more widespread after the publication of the new standard and was commonly seen at poultry shows.[14]: 88 

By 1968, hatching eggs were exported to the United States, followed by the importation of live birds in 1981.[19]: 199  The Welsh Harlequin was added to the Standard of Perfection of the American Poultry Association in 2001.[19]: 199 

In the twenty-first century it is reported by four countries: Australia, Ireland, New Zealand and the United Kingdom.[20] It is an endangered breed, with an estimated total world-wide population in 2026 of 223 birds.[20] Its conservation status was listed in 2026 as 'priority' by the Rare Breeds Survival Trust, as 'watch' by the Livestock Conservancy and as 'unknown/at risk' in the DAD-IS database.[3][11][20]

Characteristics

The Welsh Harlequin is a light duck:[7][8] body weights are ideally in the range 2.0–2.3 kg for ducks and 2.3–2.5 kg for drakes.[13]: 487 

Over the years the colour and conformation of the breed has changed, indicating that likely new blood of another breed has been introduced.[17]: 42  Females have a black bill and brown legs and feet, and their plumage is similar to a mallard but heavily frosted with white. They also lack the eye stripes of mallard females. Drakes are also similar to a heavily frosted Mallard with a yellow/green bill and orange legs and feet. There is also a colour variation known as "golden", popular in the UK, which replaces the black feather pigments with a light golden brown colour.[5]: 19  Welsh Harlequins have a unique, natural sex-linked characteristic.[17]: 42  As day olds, sex can be determined based on bill colour with over 90% accuracy. Young drakes will have darker bills while female with have lighter with a dark spot at the tip of the bill.[17]: 42 

Use

The number of eggs laid per year is variously given as 80,[21]: 40  as more than 200[12]: 83  or as 240 to 330.[3] The eggs are white, and weigh about 65 g.[21]: 40 

References

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  1. ↑ Barbara Rischkowsky, Dafydd Pilling (editors) (2007). List of breeds documented in the Global Databank for Animal Genetic Resources, annex to: 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.
  2. ↑ Breed Data Sheet: Welsh Harlequin / United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (Duck (domestic)). Domestic Animal Diversity Information System of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Accessed July 2026.
  3. 1 2 3 Welsh Harlequin. Kenilworth, Warwickshire: Rare Breeds Survival Trust. Archived 2 July 2026.
  4. ↑ Watchlist 2026–27. Kenilworth, Warwickshire: Rare Breeds Survival Trust. Archived 28 June 2026.
  5. 1 2 APA Recognized Breeds and Varieties: As of January 1, 2012. American Poultry Association. Archived 4 November 2017.
  6. ↑ Liste des races et variétés homologuée dans les pays EE (28.04.2013). Entente Européenne d'Aviculture et de Cuniculture. Archived 16 June 2013.
  7. 1 2 Ducks: Light. Poultry Club of Great Britain. Archived 27 October 2018.
  8. 1 2 Welsh Harlequin. British Waterfowl Association. Archived 16 November 2023.
  9. ↑ Dave Holderread (2011). Storey's Guide to Raising Ducks, second edition. North Adams, Massachusetts: Storey Publishing. ISBN 9781603427456.
  10. ↑ 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.
  11. 1 2 Welsh Harlequin Duck. Pittsboro, North Carolina: The Livestock Conservancy. Archived 1 March 2026.
  12. 1 2 3 4 5 Chris Ashton, Mike Ashton (2009). Keeping Ducks and Geese. Cincinnati, Ohio: David & Charles. ISBN 9780715331576.
  13. 1 2 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.
  14. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Chris Ashton, Mike Ashton (2001). The Domestic Duck. Ramsbury, Marlborough: The Crowood Press. ISBN 9781847979704.
  15. ↑ Joseph Batty (1985 [1979]). Domesticated Ducks and Geese, second edition. Liss, Hampshire: Fanciers Suppliers Ltd. ISBN 9780947647025.
  16. ↑ Leslie Bonnet, Joan Bonnet (1960). Practical Duck-keeping. London: Land Books Limited.
  17. 1 2 3 4 5 Dave Holderread (2001). Storey's Guide to Raising Ducks. Pownal, Vermont: Storey Books. ISBN 9781580172585.
  18. ↑ Welsh Harlequin. Poultry Club of Great Britain. Archived 17 June 2025.
  19. 1 2 Carol Ekarius (2007). Storey's Illustrated Guide to Poultry Breeds. North Adams, Massachusetts: Storey Publishing. ISBN 9781580176675.
  20. 1 2 3 Transboundary Breed Summary: Welsh Harlequin. Domestic Animal Diversity Information System of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Accessed July 2026.
  21. 1 2 Cite error: The named reference bdrg was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
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