What is the difference in color between teak and mallard flank feathers? I’m planning to tie a pattern that calls for teal in the wing but I only have mallard and woodduck flank feathers, are either of these a good substitute?
The pattern is the Missoulian Spook.
Thanks is advance,
Alberto
mallard should work fine as a substitute. the fish wont mind 
not much of it in this pattern
Alberto,
The teal breast feathers I am familiar with have distinct white-black barring, while grey mallard feathers are just that, two alternating shades of grey.
Cheers,
Hans W
Teal flank is considerably darker than mallard or wood duck. The feathers are smaller too, being that a teal is 1/4 the size of a mallard.
The feathers may be small unless you happen to have some Asiatic Teal. The larger flank feathers are as long or longer than the B&W barred woodduck flank. You can buy those flank feathers by the ounce if you find the right source.
John
Hi Alberto,
The overall appearance is not too different from a distance. Up close the teal that I have has stronger and wider black and white bands than does mallard. Mallard has fine bands that are much narrower and closer together than does teal.
Hans is probably right about the color, and knowing his good grasp of details, I am sure he is correct.
As above, substitution of teal for mallard, or vise versa, is not a huge change, and I would not think twice about useing one in place of the other if I needed the flies, and didn’t have the one called for.
Regards,
Gandolf
Thanks for everyone’s replies, I ended up buying the teal instead of substituting with the mallard. Here is the end result:
nice tie
8)
I like it!
Very nice tie.
Oooo, Oooo, Oooo, I know this one!
I think a APPLE would be more appropriate!