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Mallard

Anas platyrhynchos ORDER: ANSERIFORMES FAMILY: ANATIDAE

IUCN Conservation Status: Least Concern

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.

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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
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Field MarksHelp

  • Male

    Mallard

    Male
    • Large dabbling duck with glossy green head
    • Black hind end with white tail
    • Silvery-gray sides and chestnut brown breast
    • Bright yellow bill
    • © Robinsegg, Utah, February 2005
  • Female

    Mallard

    Female
    • Large dabbling duck
    • Streaked brown and tan overall
    • Dark blue patch on wing
    • Dull orange and black bill
    • © TheWorldThroughMyEyes, Maryland, May 2009
  • Male in flight

    Mallard

    Male in flight
    • White under-wings
    • Bold blue patch on upper-wing
    • Glossy green head
    • Bright yellow bill
    • © Jessie H. Barry, Russell Station, Rochester, New York, January 2008
  • Female in flight

    Mallard

    Female in flight
    • Mostly dark, streaky brown
    • Pale head
    • Bold blue patch on upper-wing
    • © Pat Kavanagh, Coaldale, Alberta, Canada, November 2009
  • Female and chicks

    Mallard

    Female and chicks
    • Female dark brown and tan patterned overall
    • Iridescent blue patch on wing
    • Chicks dark brown on top, golden-yellow below,
    • Chicks have dark cap and eye-stripe on yellow face
    • © ashockenberry, Ontario, Canada, September 2008
  • Chicks

    Mallard

    Chicks
    • Dark brown overall with yellow patches
    • Yellow face with dark eye-line
    • Dark bill
    • © Nick Chill, San Diego, California, April 2009
  • Male and female

    Mallard

    Male and female
    • Males have bright yellow bill
    • Females have orange bill with dark "saddle"
    • © tsiya, Florida, January 2009
  • Eclipse male

    Mallard

    Eclipse male
    • Males enter eclipse plumage in late summer
    • Bright yellow bill
    • Faded chestnut breast
    • Dark blue wing patch
    • © Reid Barclay, Calgary, Alberta, Canada, August 2008
  • Male Mallard x American Black Duck hybrid

    Mallard

    Male Mallard x American Black Duck hybrid
    • Often hybridizes with American Black Duck
    • Dark-bodied
    • Partially green head
    • © Colin Clement, New York, February 2009
  • Male

    Mallard

    Male
    • Glossy green head
    • Bright yellow bill with black "nail" on tip
    • Chestnut breast
    • © soderlis, Wood Lake, Richfield, Minnesota, November 2009

Similar Species

  • Male

    American Black Duck

    Male
    • Similar to adult female or eclipse male Mallard
    • Body darker overall
    • Black borders on blue wing patch
    • Dark tail
    • © Bryan Hix, Carpentersville, Illinois, January 2011
  • Male

    Mottled Duck

    Male
    • Similar to adult female or eclipse male Mallard
    • Very pale face with unmarked, buffy throat
    • Dark tail
    • © Jay Paredes, West Dixie Bend, Pompano Beach, Florida, March 2009
  • Adult male

    Gadwall

    Adult male
    • Head "puffier" and more blocky than rounded head of Mallard
    • Black bill
    • Finely patterned silver-gray body
    • Warm brown, wispy wing coverts
    • Two-toned head darker above, paler below
    • © Christopher L. Wood, New York, November 2009
  • Adult female

    Gadwall

    Adult female
    • Similar to female Mallard but smaller and more delicate
    • Head more blocky and less rounded than Mallard
    • White patch sometimes visible on folded wing
    • Thin, two-toned bill black above, pale orange below
    • © Christopher L. Wood, New York, September 2008
  • Male

    Northern Shoveler

    Male
    • Similar to adult male Mallard
    • Very broad, spatulate bill
    • White chest with chestnut flanks
    • Sky blue wing patch
    • © Carlos Escamilla, Pittman, Henderson, Nevada, February 2010
  • Adult female

    Northern Shoveler

    Adult female
    • Large, spatulate bill distinctive
    • Paler and buffier overall than female Mallard
    • Broad pale edges on wing coverts and flank feathers
    • © Jim McCree, Presque Isle, Maine, May 2010
  • Male

    Red-breasted Merganser

    Male
    • Similar to adult male Mallard
    • Very different shape with shaggy crest and thin, serrated bill
    • Bold white collar on neck
    • White stripe on sides separates gray flanks from dark back.
    • © Kim Taylor, March 2011

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.