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Mallard

Anas platyrhynchos ORDER: ANSERIFORMES FAMILY: ANATIDAE

IUCN Conservation Status: Least Concern

Mallard Photo

© Marie Read

One of the most familiar of ducks, the Mallard is found throughout North America and all across Eurasia. Where it does not occur naturally, it often has been introduced. It is found in all kinds of wetlands and is a familiar inhabitant of urban park ponds.

Read Cornell Lab of Ornithology's blog, Round Robin

Appearance

Ducks
Ducks
Typical Voice

Adult Description

  • Large dabbling duck.
  • Male with iridescent green head, rusty chest, and gray body.
  • Female mottled brown.

Male Description

Breeding (Alternate) Plumage: Head iridescent dark green. Narrow white neck ring. Breast chestnut-brown. Back and wings brownish gray. Underparts light grayish. Rump and under tail black, with white area just in front along flanks. Tail white on outside with black middle feathers. Central tail feathers curled up toward back. Bill yellow to greenish, with black nail at tip. Eyes dark. Feet red.
Eclipse (Basic) Plumage: Crown dark green. Face pale brownish. Dark line through eye. Breast warm brown. Body and wings mottled brown, white, and buff. Slight upturn to central tail feathers. Bill clear yellowish olive.

Female Description

Brownish all over with mottled streaking of buff, white, and dark brown. Face paler than body. Dark line through eye. Dark streak on crown. Belly pale. Tail whitish. Undertail pale. Bill orange or yellow marked with variable splotches of black. Legs red-orange.

Immature Description

Juvenile similar to female.

Range Map Help

Mallard Range Map
View dynamic map of eBird sightings

Field MarksHelp

Similar Species

  • Red-breasted Merganser has green head, white neck ring, reddish chest, but is built very differently, with a shaggy crest and a long thin bill, and dives.
  • Northern Shoveler has green head, but a white chest and rusty sides.
  • Female dabbling ducks look very similar. Mallard is only one with a blue speculum bordered on both sides by white.
  • American Black Duck is darker, with no white borders to its purplish speculum and a dark tail.
  • Mottled Duck is darker with thin white line behind speculum only, tail dark.