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Mallard

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Birds

                     iMallard
   Male Mallard Duck in midflight
   Male Mallard Duck in midflight

                             Conservation status

   Least Concern (LC)
            Scientific classification

   Kingdom: Animalia
   Phylum:  Chordata
   Class:   Aves
   Order:   Anseriformes
   Family:  Anatidae
   Genus:   Anas
   Species: A. platyrhynchos

                                Binomial name

   Anas platyrhynchos
   Linnaeus, 1758

                                 Subspecies

   See Mexican Duck, Anas, and article text

   The Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos; Greek for "flat-billed duck"), also
   known in North America as the Wild Duck, is a common and widespread
   dabbling duck which breeds throughout the temperate and sub-tropical
   areas of North America, Europe and Asia. It also frequents Central
   America and the Caribbean, and has been introduced into Australia and
   New Zealand. It is now the most common duck in New Zealand. It is
   probably the best-known of all ducks.

   This dabbling duck is 56–65 cm length, with an 81–98 cm wingspan, and
   weighs 750–1000 g. It is strongly migratory in the northern parts of
   its breeding range, and winters farther south. It is highly gregarious
   outside of the breeding season and will form large flocks. They are
   exceptionally fast flyers for their size, reaching speeds of 65 km/h
   (40 mph).

   The breeding male is unmistakable, with a green head, black rear end
   and a blue speculum edged with white, obvious in flight or at rest.
   Males also possess a yellow bill with a black tip, whereas females have
   a dark brown bill.

   The female Mallard is light brown, with plumage much like most female
   dabbling ducks. It can be distinguished from other ducks by the
   distinctive speculum. In non-breeding (eclipse) plumage, the drake
   looks more like the female.

   It is a bird of most wetlands, including parks, small ponds and rivers,
   and usually feeds by dabbling for plant food or grazing; there are
   reports of it eating frogs. It nests usually on a river bank, but not
   always particularly near water.

   This is a noisy species. The male has a nasal call, whereas the female
   has the very familiar " quack" always associated with ducks.

   Mallards frequently interbreed with the American Black Duck, Northern
   Pintail and domesticated species, leading to various hybrids. A Mallard
   has been recorded as living for 29 years.

   The Mallard is one of the rare examples of both Allen's Rule and
   Bergmann's Rule in birds. Bergmann's Rule, which states that polar
   forms tend to be larger than related ones from warmer climates, has
   numerous examples in birds. Allen's Rule is that appendages like ears
   tend to be smaller in polar forms, to minimize heat loss, and larger in
   tropical and desert equivalents to facilitate heat diffusion, and that
   the polar taxa are stockier overall. Examples of this rule in birds are
   rare, as they lack ears. However, the bill of ducks is very well
   supplied with blood vessels and is vulnerable to cold.

   The size of the Mallard varies clinally, and birds from Greenland,
   although larger than birds further south, have smaller bills and are
   stockier. It is sometimes separated as subspecies Greenland Mallard (A.
   p. conboschas).

   The Mallard is one of the species to which the Agreement on the
   Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds ( AEWA) applies.

   Mallards are the parent stock of most domestic ducks, apart from the
   Muscovy Duck. In captivity, Mallards come in wild-type plumages as well
   as white and other colours. Although most of these colour variants are
   rare, there is a steady increase in the number of domestic collections
   containing these forms.

As a game bird

   Mallards are hunted and eaten as game. The flesh has a stonger flavour
   than that of the more commonly eaten domestic ducks.

Photo gallery

   Drake

   Drake

   Mallards in an urban environment.

   Adult drake in full plumage

   Adult drake in full plumage

   Drake

   Female

   Drake

   Female with ducklings

   Ducklings

   Drake

   Female

   Female with young ducklings

   Mother with older ducklings

   Female walking on grass

   Female mallard

   Retrieved from " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mallard"
   This reference article is mainly selected from the English Wikipedia
   with only minor checks and changes (see www.wikipedia.org for details
   of authors and sources) and is available under the GNU Free
   Documentation License. See also our Disclaimer.
