Mallard Bird Facts Anas Platyrhynchos Az Animals Male mallards have a dark, iridescent green head and bright yellow bill. the gray body is sandwiched between a brown breast and black rear. females and juveniles are mottled brown with orange and brown bills. both sexes have a white bordered, blue “speculum” patch in the wing. mallards are “dabbling ducks”—they feed in the water by. Abundant over most of the northern hemisphere, the mallard is the most familiar wild duck to many people, and the ancestor of most strains of domesticated ducks. in many places this species has managed to domesticate itself, relying on handouts in city parks. although barnyard and feral ducks may be dumpy and ungainly creatures, the ancestral.
Harteman Wildfowl The Laysan Teal Laysan Duck The legs and feet are gray blue and the iris is yellow. ring necked ducks are silent except in display, when a low whistling note is uttered. female ring necked ducks have a brown head with a black crown, light brown cheeks and chin and a white eye ring. a narrow white line extends from the eye to the back of the head. Ducks are strong fliers; migrating flocks of mallards have been estimated traveling at 55 miles per hour. the standard duck’s quack is the sound of a female mallard. males don’t quack; they make a quieter, rasping sound. mallards, like other ducks, shed all their flight feathers at the end of the breeding season and are flightless for 3–4. The female mallard is a mottled brownish color and has a violet speculum bordered by black and white. the crown of the head is dark brown with a dark brown stripe running through the eye. the remainder of the head is lighter brown than the upper body. the bill is orange splotched with brown, and the legs and feet are orange. Currently, male ducks are called drakes. however, originally, any wild male duck was referred to as a ‘mallard.’ it is believed to originate from the old french word for wild drake – malart or mallart. mallards often breed with ducks from other species. they are known to breed with over 40 wild species and an additional 20 domestic breeds.
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