- Appearance: sexual dimorphism during breeding season, male looks like female during winter: gray-brown with black mottling on body, black stripes on head, orange and black beak, orange legs, blue-purple patch of feathers with black and white borders on wings
- During breeding season, males have iridescent green head, white stripe on neck chestnut brown neck and wings, sandy underside, black rear with white stripe, ALWAYS distinguishable from female by yellow beak
- Male mallards are known as “greenheads”
- Length: 20-26 inches (about 2 feet)
- Wingspan: 32-37 inches (about 3 feet)
- Status: common, populations increasing
- Due to its abundance, it is also the most heavily hunted duck
- Temporary declines in periods of long drought
- The mallard is the ancestor of most varieties of most domesticated ducks
- Habitat
- Can inhabit almost any wetland habitat: marshes, bogs, riverine floodplains, beaver ponds, lakes, reservoirs, ponds, city parks, roadside ditches, farms, pastures, rice fields, estuaries
- Commonly visit backyard ponds, sometimes found in people’s swimming pools
- Native to northern hemisphere – North America, Europe, Asia, North Africa, Atlantic and Pacific Islands
- Introduced to New Zealand, Australia, Peru, Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina, Chile, Colombia, and South Africa
- Mallard duck is likely the most abundant duck on Earth
- Diet
- Generalist foragers- eat wide variety of food
- Dabbling duck – tip forward and dip head underneath water to eat aquatic vegetation and seeds
- Also roam around the shore and graze on vegetation\
- During breeding season supplement diets with aquatic insect and their larvae, crustaceans, mollusks, tadpoles, frogs, insects, earthworms, small fish and freshwater shrimp
- Easily become accustomed to humans and even take handouts from them
- During migration, mainly eat agricultural grain and seeds
- Migration
- Only population that travel to tundra habitat to breed migrate
- Arrive at breeding sites in much of Canada and Alaska just after spring thaw
- Depart for wintering sites in southern United States and Mexico as ice in breeding range begins to freeze
- Majority of mallard populations are local and live across the United States – either migrate locally or do not migrate at all
- Average flight speed is about 30-40 mph, top speed is about 50-65 mph
- With a 50 mph tailwind, migrating mallards are capable of traveling 800 miles during an eight-hour flight (100 mph)
- Nesting
- Domestic populations are very tame around humans, but natural, heavily hunted, or brooding populations may become skittish
- Nest on dry land close to water
- Naturally nest in fields covered with high grass – overhanging grass conceals nests
- Also nest in artificial structures built by humans
- Occasionally nest in agricultural fields with high grass
- Sometimes nest on floating vegetation or weave nests into stems that rise out of the water
- Normally roost and breed in flocks of at least a few birds and up to hundreds,
but solitary pairs can be found - One mate per year, different mates each year
- Female takes her mate to same nesting site where she was born or previously incubate eggs
- Female creates bowl-shaped structure by digging or weaving vegetation, then lines nest with nearby grasses, leaves, and twigs
- Male’s heads have different hue during breeding season depending on status – purple when pairing with a female and gradually fades to black after eggs are laid
- Males leave females about 10 days after eggs are laid to rejoin flock of males
- Average brood is 6-12 creamy/grayish/pale greenish eggs
- Fledglings learn to fly after about 60 days
- Average lifespan is 5-10 years in wild, in captivity 10-15 years, the oldest mallard duck found was about 27 years old
