The Latin name for the mallard is Anas platyrhynchos and they belong to the Anatidae family of swans, ducks and geese.

The mallard has a long body with a long, broad bill. It is a large and heavy looking duck. It is 50-60 cm in length, has a wingspan of 81-95 cm and weighs 850g to 1500g. They can live to 20 years of age.

The drake in his breeding plumage is a very distinctive and easily recognisable bird. He has a dark green head, a yellow beak and is mainly purple-brown on the breast and grey on the body with white tail feathers. The female, however, is mainly brown with blackish mottling and has a plain buff coloured head with a dark line through the eye and an orange beak. She also has iridescent bars on her wings. They both have orange-red legs. During the summer, the drakes moult and take on the same colouration as the hens, this is called “eclipse” plumage – and offers better camouflage until their flight feathers have been fully replaced. The chicks are brown and yellow. Juveniles are similar to the female, but duller.

Mallard in flight can be told by their relatively large size, the dark-chested appearance of the males and the fact that the white borders on either side of the dark blue speculum are both equally obvious.

The duck has a loud “quack”, while the drake’s call is a softer, higher-pitched “quork” also a grunt and whistle during display. Wings whistle in flight.

Mallards are able to take off from water quite steeply using their wings to push against the surface to help launch them. They are also able to land at quite a steep angle and this allows them to land in relatively small bodies of water.

Distribution

The Mallard is the commonest duck, it is abundant everywhere. It is the most common and widespread duck in Europe as well as being found in parts of Asia, Africa and North America. Mallards in Britain may be resident breeders or migrants. Many of them breed in Iceland and northern Europe and then winter here.

Habitat

Mallard breed and winter on any fresh and saltwater bodies. They inhabit parks, canals, rivers, ponds, lakes, woodland and gardens.

Feeding

Mallards feed on seeds, acorns and berries, small plants, insects and shellfish and less often fish. Mallards are dabbling ducks, so they forage near the water surface or upend to reach food deeper down, but also feed off the ground. They will visit gardens for food. Mallards feed both day and night.

Breeding

Mallards pair up in October and November and start to nest in March. They like to nest near water and the duck builds a nest from leaves and grasses amongst dense vegetation. Then it is lined with feathers. The duck lays 6-14 grey-green eggs and incubates them alone. It is a very stressful period for her as she lays more than half her body weight in a couple of weeks. The male will protect the female and their feeding and resting areas. His job is nearly over once the eggs have been laid. He remains sexually potent in case a replacement clutch of eggs are needed but will lose interest quickly and joins the other males to moult. Drakes at this time can be very anti-social and will mate forcibly with females that appear unattached.

Mallards will use any open water where there is plenty of food but this can lead to some very strange nesting places. Nests have been found in boathouses, wood piles, old crow’s nests, hay stacks, roof gardens, enclosed courtyards and even large flowerpots on balconies several floors up!

Chicks hatch after 25 days and the mother waits until their feathers are dry, after about 10 hours, and then leads them onto the water. Bad weather may delay their first journey but the sooner the duckling get to water and start feeding, the better their chances of survival. The nest is usually abandoned but if it is close to the feeding area they may continue to use it to roost.

This first journey can be the most dangerous time in a duckling’s life if the nest is far away from the water. If the nest is up a tree or on a balcony they have to jump to the ground but being very light and covered in down they aren’t usually hurt by the fall.

Ducklings can feed themselves as soon as they reach the water but need their mother to show them what is edible. The mother broods them at night as the ducklings easily chill in cold weather. She also protects them from attacks by other mallards as ducks do not tolerate stray ducklings near their own brood and may kill strange young they meet. It takes ducklings 50-60 days to fledge and become independent. They become sexually mature and able to breed at one year old.

Kenneth Grahame wrote a poem called “Ducks’ Ditty” in “The Wind in the Willows”. In Chapter 2, Ratty sings it and Mole dislikes it. It describes the Mallard perfectly.

`Ducks’ Ditty’

All along the backwater,
Through the rushes tall,
Ducks are a-dabbling,
Up tails all!

Ducks’ tails, drakes’ tails,
Yellow feet a-quiver,
Yellow bills all out of sight
Busy in the river!

Slushy green undergrowth
Where the roach swim–
Here we keep our larder,
Cool and full and dim.

Everyone for what he likes!
WE like to be
Heads down, tails up,
Dabbling free!

High in the blue above
Swifts whirl and call–
WE are down a-dabbling
Up tails all!