| The Mallard is our commonest duck, the wildfowl that most
people can recognise as it inhabits any suitable wetland including city
parks, and ponds. They have a long body, a long, broad bill and orange-red
legs. The sexes are different with the male having a dark green head with
a metallic sheen, a purple-brown breast with a white ring around the neck,
a grey body and a black tail with two curly black upper-tail feathers. The
female is much duller, brown body, orange bill and plain buff head. Both
sexes have purple wing patches known as speculums in ducks. The male loses
much of his colour during moulting and can be mistaken for the female at
this time - June to September. The young are similar in colouring to the
female. Mallards feed on plants, insects, small shellfish, seeds and even
frogs. |
