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Mallard

Anas platyrhynchosOrder: ANSERIFORMESFamily: Geese and Ducks (Anatidae)

Mallard Male Portrait
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General

Mallard: Medium-sized dabbling duck with gray body and chestnut-brown breast. Head is green and neck ring is white. Bill is yellow-green. Wing speculum is white-bordered metallic purple-blue. Tail is dark with distinct white edges and two curled black feathers. Legs and feet are orange. Female is mottled brown with mostly white tail, has a brown-saddled orange bill, and no curled tail feathers. Juvenile resembles female but has duller bill. Eclipse male is similar to female but is grayer overall and has olive-green bill. Hybridizes with Black Ducks, Mottled Ducks, and domestic ducks.

Range and Habitat

Mallard Duck: Breeds from Alaska and Quebec south to southern California, Virginia, Texas, and northern Mexico. Spends winters throughout the U.S. and south to Central America and the West Indies. Preferred habitats include ponds, lakes, marshes, small river bends, bays, ditches, and city ponds.

Listen to Call

Voice Text

"kwek-kwek-kwek"

Interesting Facts

  • The Mallard is the ancestor of all domestic duck breeds, except the Muscovy Duck.
  • Mallards are the most abundant and widespread of all waterfowl; every year millions are harvested by hunters with little effect on their numbers. The greatest threat to mallards is loss of habitat, but they readily adapt to human disturbances.
  • They frequently breed with domestic ducks, producing a large variety of patterns and colors. They also hybridize with wild species such as the closely related American Black Duck and even occasionally with Northern Pintails
  • A group of mallards has many collective nouns, including a "battling", "daggle", "doppling", "lute", and "sword" of mallards.


Author

Gary Owen Dick

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Range Map for Mallard
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Bird Call Credits: The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Martyn Stewart, http://www.naturesound.org, Redmond, Washington USA. The reuse or copying of bird calls in this database is strictly forbidden.
Family
Species Anas platyrhynchos
Length23 Inches
Wingspan35 Inches

Mallard

Mallard: Medium-sized dabbling duck with gray body and chestnut-brown breast. The head is green and neck ring is white. Bill is yellow-green. Wing speculum is white-bordered metallic purple-blue. The tail is dark with distinct white edges and two curled black feathers. Legs and feet are orange.

● Song: "kwek-kwek-kwek"

● Foraging & Feeding: Mallard: Dabbles in shallow freshwater for vegetation, insects, mollusks, and crustaceans. Often forages for food in fields and woodlots.

● Breeding & nesting: Mallard: Five to fourteen green or gray buff eggs are laid in a down-lined nest, usually built on the ground, sometimes far from water; occasionally nests in trees. Incubation ranges from 26 to 30 days and is carried out by the female.

● Similar species: Mallard: Northern Shoveler has a long, dark bill, white breast, and chestnut-brown brown sides. Common and Red-breasted mergansers have narrow red bills and head crests.

Flight Pattern

Swift direct flight with strong wing beats.
Mallard Male Body Illustration
● Range & Habitat: Mallard Duck: Breeds from Alaska and Quebec south to southern California, Virginia, Texas, and northern Mexico. Spends winters throughout the U.S. and south to Central America and the West Indies. Preferred habitats include ponds, lakes, marshes, small river bends, bays, ditches, and city ponds.
BreedingMonogamous, Solitary nester
PopulationCommon to abundant
MigrationMigratory
Weight38.4 Ounces