In Praise of the Mallard

If it looks like a duck, swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck, then it probably is a duck. In fact, it’s likely to be a Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos).

Mallards are common and abundant around freshwater ponds, making eastern North Carolina their home all year long. Sometimes we take them for granted — Oh, it’s just a mallard! But take a closer look. This is not just a plain old, run-of-the-mill “ordinary” bird! Check out this dazzling and awesome dude…

This is a typical male or drake Mallard. Besides his striking coloration, he has another special feature — feathers that form tail curls…

The hen, although mostly brown, has beautifully patterned plumage. Her coloring provides camouflage for her when tending her nest on the ground…

Both sexes have a touch of blue color located on their wings, only visible when they step out of the water…

A close-up of the Mallard drake’s iridescent green head shows the distinctive flattened bill characteristic of ducks. The black tip is a nice detail…

Another special feature of ducks is their webbed feet (seen here on a Mallard hen)…

Webbed feet leave distinctive tracks…

Mallards, like other “dabbling” or puddle ducks, have a funny way of foraging for food in shallow water. Instead of diving underwater, they tip over like this and eat off the bottom…

They eat on land too, but spend a lot of time sleeping on the grass in various positions…

Here’s a drake who is emerging from a molt. He briefly lost his colorful feathers, but new ones are growing in…

Mallards are extremely sociable ducks, and hang out together on ponds, like this group of drakes…

Mallards are the ancestors of most domesticated ducks, so there is sometimes an attraction between a wild Mallard and an escaped Domestic duck. Breeding results in some odd hybrids…

To see more duck photos…

• Puddle Ducks >>
• Diving Ducks >>
• Ducks on a California Lake >>