…..just another Mallard?

By Debbie Wiggins, Golden Eagle Guest Blogger

Here in southern Idaho, it is safe to say that the Mallard (Anas platyrhyncos) is the most common and plentiful duck that we see. In fact, the Mallard is the most plentiful duck in the northern hemisphere.

As commonplace as they are, they are not ordinary. Look at the bird, read the description, then really look at the bird. After the male Wood Duck, the male Mallard is the most colorful duck in Idaho when it dons its breeding plumage. Starting in October, the male Mallard sports a yellow bill, bright orange legs and feet, iridescent green head, white collar, brown breast, grayish body, black and white tail with a black curlicue! On the wing a violet/blue patch bordered by 2 white bars (called a speculum).

Male Mallard by Ken Miracle

And, consent to be wowed by the female. She has the same bright orange legs and feet, and the same white-bordered violet/blue speculum as the male. Her body’s camouflaged feather pattern of buff, white, gray or black-on-brown is no less beautiful in its subtlety than the bright plumage of the male. She has a black-splotched orange bill and a pronounced dark eye-line on the side of her face. Vocally, if it quacks like a duck (loud, sometimes demanding) you’ll know it’s the call of the female Mallard. The male call is low and raspy, sotto voce.

Female Mallard by Louisa Evers

Follow The Water

Where there is water, Mallards will come. Look for Mallards in ponds, canals, ditches, lakes, streams, slower-moving portions of rivers, wetlands, marshes, city parks, rural agricultural land, a flooded gutter in your front yard, and more. Locally, check out Kathryn Albertson Park, Hyatt Hidden Lakes Reserve, Boise River Greenbelt, and Wilson Springs Ponds in Nampa. Additional suggestions may be found at the website www.goldeneagleaudubon.org

Mallards are omnivores, finding food on land as well as in water. Mallards in rural areas eat soft vegetation and seeds, especially those from cereal crops such as corn, barley, and wheat. Urban Mallards graze for earthworms, insects, even acorns, but readily accept seeds and bread offered by humans. In water, Mallards are dabbling ducks. Observe the typical dabbling Mallard—head underwater, rear end tipped skyward, orange legs gently paddling in place. They find fish, small invertebrates, aquatic insects and vegetation in the shallows near waters’ edge. (Learn about the feeding habits of diving ducks in future posts.)

Migratory or Resident?

Because we observe Mallards year round in our area, we tend to think they all live here year round. While we do have some year-round residents, Mallards are considered migratory birds. Most of the ones that breed in Southern Idaho in the spring have come from north of the Idaho border in Canada. A smaller number have arrived from the Dakotas and Montana. Even now, Mallards are beginning to form pairs in anticipation of the breeding season, usually commencing in November and December, when males add grunts and whistles to their vocal repertoire. Courtship behavior is varied and often includes head-bobbing, both individually and in-unison.

Mallards are the most heavily hunted ducks in North America, known to account for 1 in every 3 birds shot, Yet, their population remains stable. The overall success of Mallards as a species is attributed to their adaptability. They can thrive in a variety of habitats; they have a broad scope of feeding preferences. They are prolific breeders and tolerant of humans.

There is much to know and appreciate about our local ducks, including all those greenheads. Truly....not just another Mallard.

Resources: Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ducks Unlimited, American Bird Conservancy, National Audubon Society, Idaho Fish & Game

Next up in Winter Ducks of the Treasure Valley series: Bucephala albeola, the Bufflehead