Description: The Mallard, or Wild duck, is a dabbling duck which breeds throughout the temperate and sub-tropical areas of the US and other regions around the world. The male birds have a bright green head, while the female's is light brown. They generally live in wetlands, eat water plants, and are gregarious by nature. It is also migratory. The Mallard is the ancestor of all domestic ducks, and can interbreed with other species of genus This interbreeding is causing some rarer species of ducks to become genetically diluted. The Mallard is 22–26 inches long, has a wingspan of 32–39 inches, and weighs 32–42 oz. The breeding male,or drake, is unmistakable, with its iconic bright green head that sits atop a white neckband that sets off a chestnut-colored chest and white-gray body. It has a yellowish orange bill tipped with black (as opposed to the dark brown bill in females), The female Mallard is a light mottled drab brown in color, but sports iridescent purple-blue wing feathers that are visible as a patch on their sides.
Mated pairs migrate to and breed in the northern parts of their range and build nests on the ground or in a protected cavity. They normally lay about a dozen eggs, and the incubation period lasts just under a month. Mallards are territorial during much of this period, but once incubation is well underway, males abandon the nest and join a flock of other males |
