Mallard

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(Redirected from Mallard duck)

For other uses, see Mallard (disambiguation).

{{Taxobox | color = pink | name = Mallard | status = Conservation status: Lower risk (lc) | image = Mallardcloseup.jpg | image_width = 200px | image_caption = Close up of a Drake | regnum = Animalia | phylum = Chordata | classis = Aves | ordo = Anseriformes | familia = Anatidae | genus = Anas | species = A. platyrhynchos | binomial = Anas platyrhynchos | binomial_authority = Linnaeus, 1758 | subdivision_ranks = Subspecies | subdivision =

A. p. platyrhynchos (Common Mallard)
A. p. conboschas (Greenland Mallard)
A. p. diazi (Mexican Duck)

}}

The Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos (litt: flat billed duck<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>)), also known in North America as the Wild Duck, is a common and widespread dabbling duck which breeds throughout the temperate and sub-tropical areas of North America, Europe and Asia. It also frequents Central America and the Caribbean. It is probably the best-known of all ducks.

This dabbling duck is 56-65 cm length, with an 81–98 cm wingspan, and weighs 750–1000 g. It is strongly migratory in the northern parts of its breeding range, and winters farther south. It is highly gregarious outside of the breeding season and will form large flocks. They are exceptionally fast flyers for their size, reaching speeds of 40mph. Due to their streamlining however, it hardly ruffles a feather.

The breeding male is unmistakable, with a green head, black rear end and a blue speculum edged with white, obvious in flight or at rest. Males also possess a yellow bill with a black tip, whereas females have a dark brown bill.

The females are light brown, with plumage much like most female dabbling ducks. They can be distinguished from other ducks, by the distinctive speculum. In non-breeding (eclipse) plumage, the drake looks more like the female.

It is a bird of most wetlands, including parks, small ponds and rivers, and usually feeds by dabbling for plant food or grazing. It nests usually on a river bank, but not always particularly near water.

This is a noisy species. The male has a nasal call, whereas the female has the very familiar "quack" always associated with ducks.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Mallards frequently interbreed with the American Black Duck, Northern Pintail and domesticated species, leading to various hybrids. A Mallard has been recorded as living for 29 years.

The Greenland subspecies of the Mallard is one of the rare examples of both Allen's Rule and Bergmann's Rule in birds. Bergmann's Rule—polar subspecies/species tend to be larger than related ones from warmer climates—has numerous examples in birds. Examples of Allen's Rule—appendages like ears tend to be smaller in polar subspecies/species to minimize heat loss and large in tropical and desert equivalents to facilitate heat diffusion, and the polar taxa are stockier overall—are rare, as birds don't have ears. However, the bill of ducks is very well supplied with blood vessels and vulnerable to cold. Thus, the Greenland Mallard, although considerably larger than the nominate subspecies, has a smaller bill and is stockier.

1 Breeding behaviour
2 See also
3 References
4 Photo gallery
5 External links

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Breeding behaviour

Image:Flying mallard duck - female.jpg Mallards form pairs only until the female lays eggs, at which time she is left by the male. The clutch is 9–13 eggs, which are incubated for 27–28 days to hatching with 50–60 days to fledging. The ducklings are precocial, and can swim and feed themselves on insects as soon as they hatch, although they stay near the female for protection. Mallards also have rates of male-male sexual activity that are unusually high for birds. In some cases, as many as 19% of pairs in a mallard population are male-male homosexual (Bagemihl, 1999).

When they pair off with mating partners, often one or several drakes will end up "left out". This group will sometimes target an isolated female duck — chasing, pestering and pecking at her until she weakens (a phenomenon referred to by researchers as rape flight), at which point each male will take turns copulating with the female. Male mallards will also chase males in the same way to copulate with other males. (In one documented case a male Mallard copulated with another male he was chasing after it had been killed when it flew into a glass window.<ref>http://www.nmr.nl/deins815.htm</ref><ref>http://education.guardian.co.uk/higher/research/story/0,9865,1432991,00.html</ref>)

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References

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Photo gallery

Adult drake in full plumage	Adult drake in full plumage	Drake	Female
Drake	Female with ducklings	Ducklings	Drake
Female	Mallards in flight	Female with young ducklings	Mother with older ducklings