Weekend Birding ~ Mallard Ducks
The Mallard is one of the most familiar ducks and is found throughout North America and across Eurasia. During breeding season the males are easily spotted by their iridescent dark green heads. The females are brownish all over with mottled streaking of buff, white, and dark brown.
There is a small lake near my house that is home to a friendly group of ducks. I sat down in the grass and waited for them to come out of the water. They are accustomed to people so I was able to get good close-ups.
I took these pictures at the end of summer so both males and females had non-breeding plumage and were the same brownish color. The way to tell them apart is their bill: males have a yellow bill and female’s have orange with black. The picture above is a female and is one of my favorite shots.
Above is another shot of a female; she had just climbed out of the water. Below is a male, identified by the yellow bill.
Interesting facts (from All About Birds):
- The Mallard is the ancestor of nearly all domestic duck breeds.
- Mallard pairs are generally monogamous, but paired males may chase a single female and mate with her.
- Mallard pairs form long before the spring breeding season. Pairing takes place in the fall, but courtship can be seen all winter.
- Only the female incubates the eggs and takes care of the ducklings.
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Saturday Snapshots is hosted by Alyce. Head on over to At Home With Books to see more great photos or add your own.
Under My Apple Tree 
Beautiful photos, Leslie! For three years running in March, I had a pair of Mallards stop for a swim and a nap at my swimming pool. The neighbor’s Siamese cat was fascinated, but too afraid to do anything about the large feathered things floating in my pool.
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Leslie…you take such gorgeous photos. I love ducks. Once at Cape Cod, a family of tbem were crossing a busy street in front of us and hdind up traffic! Funny
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Lovely series!
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Fascinating historic facts…and gorgeous photos. Thanks for sharing!
Here’s MY SATURDAY SNAPSHOT POST
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These are wonderful close-ups. We have a mallard pair in the neighborhood at the moment. I saw them several weeks ago as they looked for the right spot to lay their eggs. We’re not far from a river so they may have moved by now.
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I had no idea the male’s head was only green during breeding season. We have two ponds in our neighborhood and had a pair of ducks visit a couple years ago, but lately, all we’ve seen is a pair of Canada geese.
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Beautiful! We have a pair of mallards in our backyard now. The receding flood waters have left a huge puddle that the pair have been paddling around in. Thanks for the photo of the male in his summer plummage.
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Wow, what fantastic pictures — right down to the individual feathers!
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These photos are just beautiful. Thanks for all the extra info as well. Ducks always remind me of some of my daughter’s favorite adventures. My in-laws lived in a house that had a pond behind it and when she was little, my girl’s favorite thing was watching and feeding the ducks.
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Very nice shot. Looking forward to more birdwatching come May!
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I agree, that first shot is absolutely gorgeous! I had no idea that was how you could tell ducks apart.
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I can understand why the first photo is a favorite — it is spectacular!
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These photographs are some of my very favorites of yours. Really lovely, Leslie!
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We have a Mr. and Mrs. Duck in our neighborhood this year too! Must be a good year for duck couples!
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Love your photos and learning about them.
Feel free to visit my Saturday Snapshot
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WOW! That’s so exciting. I get to go on a birding weekend in 3 weeks!!
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Beautiful photos, Leslie! I love Mallard ducks. My daughter got to bring a duckling home from school for the weekend once, and named the cutie Mallory.
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They are gorgeous! Lovely pictures. I love birds 🙂
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Thanks everyone for the nice comments. I’m glad you are enjoying Weekend Birding and my photos..
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What gorgeous photos. It’s so neat that you could get such great close-ups.
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