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Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) — photo 1 of 4
© Richard Bartz CC BY-SA 2.5

Ducks, geese, and swans · Waterfowl

Mallard

Anas platyrhynchos

Year-round

Voice

Call

Jonathon Jongsma

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Call

Sonothèque ADVL

0:09

Call

Sonothèque ADVL

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How to recognize it

  • Males have green heads, females are brown-spotted

  • Blue-purple wing speculum

  • Female has a loud "quack-quack" call

About the species

The mallard stands out with its lively behavior and distinctive quack. While males boast a striking green head and females are mottled brown, it's their activity that captures attention—often seen dabbling in the water or interacting with passerby, emitting their characteristic "quack-quack".

These ducks are social and prefer to gather in groups, making them a common sight in urban parks and ponds. They are not shy around humans, often scavenging for breadcrumbs or seeds, particularly in agricultural fields during the autumn.

Mallards thrive in shallow waters, foraging for aquatic plants and small insects. It’s a delight to watch them tip up, tails in the air, as they search for food they can find right beneath the surface.

Did you know?

  • Ducklings parachute onto asphalt

    Mallard ducklings fearlessly leap from a roof or tree at their mother's call, webbed feet splayed like parachutes — thick down and their tiny weight cushion the landing even on bare asphalt.

  • Foster ducks learn to migrate

    Eggs of non-migratory English Mallards hatched in Finland produced 116 ducklings that adopted the local population's migration, with 19 later recovered up to 2,300 km away — peer example overrode innate sedentariness.

  • 75 minutes on a fallen drake

    In 1995, after a drake mallard struck the glass facade of a Rotterdam museum and died, a second drake mounted the corpse for a full seventy-five minutes — the first documented case of homosexual necrophilia in the species.

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