Mallard Male Duck in Ottawa River, Ontario
BackMallard - Very common duck. Males have green heads and females are brown and streaked. This dabbling duck is 56-65 cm length, with an 8198 cm wingspan, and weighs 7501000 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 40mph. Due to their streamlining however, it hardly ruffles a feather. 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 females are light brown, with plumage much like most female dabbling ducks. They 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. 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. Info from www.surfbirds.com
Category: Animals
Uploaded: September 29th, 2008 @ 2:21 am
Author: faqvideo
Length: 00:33
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Tags: canada duck mallard ontario ottawa
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