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Habitat: Most often, Mallards prefer wetlands, where highly productive waters produce large amounts of floating, emergent and submerged vegetation.
Diet: Mallards consume a wide variety of foods, including vegetation, insects, worms, gastropods and arthropods, although they are not restricted to these.
Behavior: After the breeding season, mallards form flocks and migrate from northern latitudes to warmer areas. There they wait and feed until the breeding season starts again. Some mallards, however, may choose to stay through the winter in areas where food and shelter is abundant.
The familiar "quack" of ducks is from the female mallard--it is named the "decrescendo call", and can be heard for miles. A female will give the call when she wants to bring other ducks to her, such as her ducklings, and as a result it is also known as the "hail call".
Physical Description: The mallard is the most recognized waterfowl in the world. The familiar duck morphology is complemented with an iridescent blue speculum on the wings in both sexes. On the male, the notable characteristics are the green iridescent plumage on the head and neck, and curled black feathers on the tail. The female's plumage is drab brown.
Reproduction: Most mallard hens breed as yearlings, but they may not have much success; studies show that older hens have much lower duckling mortality than yearlings. Pair bonding starts as early as October and continues through March. Mallard males leave the hen soon after mating occurs. The hen usually lays 9 -13 eggs in a nest on the ground near a body of water. When the ducklings hatch after 26-28 days, the hen leads them to water and does not return to the nest.
Status: Common
Fun Facts:
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Mallards are the most abundant and widespread of all waterfowl |
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The money generated by license fees pays for the management of mallard populations and is used to protect important habitats. |
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Mallards can be found almost anywhere in the world. They dominate the Northern Hemisphere, and can be found easly in Oceana, Asia, Africa, South America and many islands |
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