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Male mallard duck
Female mallard duck
Length: 19.7-25.6 inches
Weight: 35.3-45.9 ounces
Wingspan: 32.3-37.4 inches
Body shape: long bodies, rounded heads, and wide, flat bills
Wing shape: Broad, Pointed, Tapered
Tail shape: Rounded, Short, Square-tipped
Males
Color: grayish body, white neck ring, deep iridescent green head, yellow bill, orange legs; both sexes have a white-bordered, blue patch in the wing
Females and juveniles
Color: mottled brown with feathers that often look like scales, an orange-and-brown bill and a dark brown line across their eye; both sexes have a white-bordered, blue patch in the wing
The quintessential duck’s quack is the sound of the female mallard. Females often give this call in a series of 2–10 quacks that begin loudly and get softer. The male does not quack; instead he gives a quieter, rasping, one- or two-noted call. Ducklings make soft, shrill whistles when alarmed.
Look and listen for them by Fanno Creek, or when they fly from one place to another.
Habitat
Habitat
Freshwater ponds, lakes, rivers, marshes; some protected saltwater ponds or marshes in coastal areas
Nest
Nest
Usually well-concealed, on or near the ground, and often near water. Mallards make a shallow depressions in the ground and line it with grasses, reeds, sticks, leaves and then line with down feathers.
Eggs
Eggs
Eggs: 7-12
Color: white, gray, buff or pale greenish
Mallards often forage in shallow waters, marshes, ponds, lakes, and rivers, where they can easily access their preferred food sources. Their foraging method involves tipping forward, upending, or dabbling on the water’s surface to reach submerged vegetation or small organisms.
Ducks are strong fliers; migrating flocks of Mallards have been estimated traveling at 55 miles per hour.
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