The silver, waterproof tape made of cloth mesh is called duct tape. The name derives from the tape’s usefulness in sealing heating and air-conditioning ducts. Duck tape is an eggcorn resulting from a mishearing of the word duct in duct tape. The results can be funny, not to mention embarrassing for the writer—for example:
I would piece together styrofoam, tissue boxes, paper towel rolls, used poster board, duck tape and just about every piece of junk I could get my hands on … [Buzz Focus]
He said his attackers also tried to duck-tape his mouth shut. [Patch]
To finish off the quest, we had to tiptoe on a narrow cliff (between two lines of duck tape on the floor) with a treasure chest at the end. [Binghamton University Pipe Dream]
To be fair, there is a company called Duck that makes duct tape. Maybe these writers are referring to Duck brand duct tape. In that case, however, they should capitalize Duck.
