Mallard

The Mallard is the most widespread and abundant duck in the Northern Hemisphere, the ancestor of most domestic duck breeds, and a common sight on almost any body of water from wild wetlands to city parks.

The single most reliable Mallard feather for identification is the speculum - a patch of secondary feathers on the inner wing that is a glossy iridescent blue, bordered front and back by white bars. This feature is present in both males and females, making it useful even when only body feathers of the more cryptic female are found. Male body feathers include a glossy bottle-green head feather (iridescent, appearing almost black in poor light), a chestnut-brown breast, and finely vermiculated grey flank feathers; the central tail feathers curl upward distinctively, a feature unique to the drake. Female body feathers are mottled brown and buff throughout, providing camouflage, with a plainer, only slightly curled tail.

Males (drakes) are strikingly patterned outside of the late-summer eclipse period, when they molt into a female-like brown camouflage plumage while flightless, before regaining breeding plumage by autumn. Females retain mottled brown plumage year-round. Juveniles resemble adult females until young males begin acquiring adult feathering in their first autumn.

Mallards inhabit an enormous range of freshwater and brackish habitats, from wild marshes and rivers to urban ponds and park lakes, and are found throughout much of North America, Europe, and Asia. Populations vary from fully resident to strongly migratory depending on the region and severity of winter conditions.

Mallards are dabbling ducks, feeding by tipping forward to graze on submerged vegetation, seeds, and invertebrates rather than diving. Females give the familiar loud quack, while males produce quieter, softer notes. Nests are built on the ground, often near water and well concealed in vegetation. IUCN status is Least Concern.