Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos)
- HABITAT - The mallard inhabits a wide range of habitats and climates, from Arctic tundra to subtropical regions. It is found in both fresh- and salt-water wetlands, including parks, small ponds, rivers, lakes and estuaries, as well as shallow inlets. The mallard is widely distributed across the Northern and Southern Hemispheres.
- DIET - Majority of diet is plant material, including seeds, stems, and roots of a vast variety of different plants, especially sedges, grasses, pondweeds, smartweeds, tree seeds and grains. Also eat insects, crustaceans, mollusks, tadpoles, frogs, earthworms, small fish. The Mallard is a typical member of the surface-feeding group of ducks, known as the dabblers.
- FACTS - The standard duck’s quack is the sound of a female Mallard. Males don’t quack; they make a quieter, rasping sound.
- They are known to crossbreed with Mallards. No duck is more extensively hunted: in Canada, over 50 percent of all ducks killed are Mallards.
Mallard GALLERY
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