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Mallard

Anas platyrhynchos ORDER: ANSERIFORMES FAMILY: ANATIDAE

IUCN Conservation Status: Least Concern

If someone at a park is feeding bread to ducks, chances are there are Mallards in the fray. Perhaps the most familiar of all ducks, Mallards occur throughout North America and Eurasia in ponds and parks as well as wilder wetlands and estuaries. The male’s gleaming green head, gray flanks, and black tail-curl arguably make it the most easily identified duck. Mallards have long been hunted for the table, and almost all domestic ducks come from this species.

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Calls

  • Calls
    Recorded by Arthur A. Allen
  • Female quack
    Recorded by William W. Gunn
    Alberta, CanadaMay 1976
  • Female decrescendo call
    Recorded by Arthur A. Allen
    New York March 1956
  • Female quack in flight
    Recorded by Gregory F. Budney
    New York April 1995
  • Male courtship calls
    Recorded by Arthur A. Allen
    New York March 1956
  • Male courtship calls
    Recorded by Arthur A. Allen
    New York March 1956
    • Courtesy of Macaulay Library
    © Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

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. When courting, she may give a paired form of this quack. The male does not quack; instead he gives a quieter, rasping, one- or two-noted call. Ducklings make soft, shrill whistles when alarmed.

Other Sounds

Males make a rattling noise by rubbing the bill against the flight feathers in a special display that resembles stylized preening. This display is given toward a mate and presumably helps maintain the pair bond.

Search the Macaulay Library online archive for more sounds and videos

Backyard Tips

If you have a pond or marshy area on your property Mallards might be attracted to your backyard. Occasionally, Mallards have been known to show up in people’s swimming pools.

Find This Bird

Look for Mallards at local city or suburban parks, where they’re likely to be accepting food handouts from humans. If you want to see them in a more natural setting, visit a nearby pond or lake—Mallards are likely to be the ducks you most frequently see.

Get Involved

You can help scientists learn more about this species by participating in the Celebrate Urban Birds project.