Mallard
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, UT, February 2005
Mallard
Female
- Large dabbling duck
- Streaked brown and tan overall
- Dark blue patch on wing
- Dull orange and black bill
- © TheWorldThroughMyEyes, MD, May 2009
Mallard
Male in flight
- White under-wings
- Bold blue patch on upper-wing
- Glossy green head
- Bright yellow bill
- © Jessie H. Barry, NY, Russell Station, Rochester, January 2008
Mallard
Female in flight
- Mostly dark, streaky brown
- Pale head
- Bold blue patch on upper-wing
- © Pat Kavanagh, Coaldale, Alberta, Canada, November 2009
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
Mallard
Chicks
- Dark brown overall with yellow patches
- Yellow face with dark eye-line
- Dark bill
- © Nick Chill, CA, San Diego, April 2009
Mallard
Male and female
- Males have bright yellow bill
- Females have orange bill with dark "saddle"
- © tsiya, FL, January 2009
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
Mallard
Male Mallard x American Black Duck hybrid
- Often hybridizes with American Black Duck
- Dark-bodied
- Partially green head
- © Colin Clement, NY, February 2009
Mallard
Male
- Glossy green head
- Bright yellow bill with black "nail" on tip
- Chestnut breast
- © soderlis, MN, Wood Lake, Richfield, November 2009
Similar Species
Male
- Similar to adult female or eclipse male Mallard
- Body darker overall
- Black borders on blue wing patch
- Dark tail
- © Bryan Hix, Carpentersville, IL, January 2011
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, FL, March 2009
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, NY, November 2009
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, NY, September 2008
Male
- Similar to adult male Mallard
- Very broad, spatulate bill
- White chest with chestnut flanks
- Sky blue wing patch
- © Carlos Escamilla, Pittman, Henderson, NV, February 2010
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, ME, May 2010
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