Mallard - description, habitat, interesting facts

The content of the article

1 Appearance
2 Where do they live?
3 What to eat?
4 How is the molt?
5 How does reproduction occur?
6 Nest arrangement
7 Video: Mallard (Wild River Duck)

Mallard is the most famous bird among the ducks. According to the classification of species, the mallard is a member of the Anseriformes order, but it is also considered to belong to the duck family.

Appearance

Externally, the mallard is a rather dense and well-fed duck. These birds have a very small tail, but the head is quite impressive. The length of the mallard can reach 60 centimeters, small birds have a length of about 40 centimeters. The wingspan of these individuals reaches one meter. One wing has an average length of about 30 centimeters. The body weight of the mallard is approximately 1.5 kilograms.

The beak, as is traditionally in ducks, is rather wide and flat. The representatives of the sexes have different shades of the beak, therefore, it is easy to determine the sex. Males, as a rule, get a beak, the base of which has a greenish tint, but closer to the end it changes to yellow.In more adult males, beaks may occur without an overflow of orange or olive color. In females, the beak is quite unusual, at the base on it you can see black specks.

The males and females of these wild ducks are in principle fairly easy to distinguish from each other, since sexual dimorphism is characteristic of this species. Representatives of the sexes in mallards have significant differences in their appearance. Young males, as a rule, have a very bright and iridescent color. For example, on the head and neck they usually have feathers of a beautiful emerald color. Also on the neck there is a small patch of white, which resembles a collar. The back is usually gray in color, which gradually changes to black. The breast traditionally has a dark brown shade, and the belly is gray in color. Very beautiful in males wings. They are mainly covered with brown plumage, however, there is also a blue-violet area on it, which resembles a kind of mirror. This mirror is framed with white feathers. The tail of the drakes is usually gray or black. The mirror on the wings with age is becoming more and more. In females, the color is less bright.During the molting period, the drakes are almost impossible to distinguish from females in color, since their colors also become rather pale. Help in such a situation can only beak. The legs of all ducks are red.

Females do not differ in such complex plumage as males. In most cases, in their color can be found gray, brown and red shades. They are traditionally placed on the back and wings. On the breast, feathers are painted in ocher, legs have a dull orange color.

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Where do they live?

Mallards are mainly distributed in the northern hemisphere. In our country, they can be found in the Tundra. If you take Europe, then there they are found quite often, you can not find them except in the area of highlands. Such wild ducks are partly migratory. For example, those individuals that live in Greenland, do not fly away for the winter, because the climate there is suitable for nesting. From Russia, ducks traditionally migrate to Turkey and the Mediterranean. In the Himalayas, mallards simply go down to wait out winter time.

In general, mallards prefer to live in forest-steppe belts.They can be in both fresh and salt water. These ducks do not like the river and other reservoirs that have a fast current. In addition, mallards do not live near lakes, in which there is a very poor flora and fauna.

As soon as it is time to equip their nests, the mallards find reservoirs with stagnant water, because in them a large number of reeds and sedges grow.

What to eat?

Mallards eat quite varied, they are not whimsical in food. Each meal can be compared with the filtering process. In the beak of these ducks there are special plates that can separate the plants, as well as aquatic animals. Mallards calmly eat fish, tadpoles, insects and even frogs.

Near the reservoirs, it is sometimes possible to come across an unusual picture when a duck submerges its head and body in water, leaving only a sticking tail outside. Such a phenomenon means that the mallard is trying to reach the aquatic plants growing on the bottom.

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How is the molt?

A distinctive feature of the mallard in comparison with other species of birds is molt, which is carried out as much as twice a year.This phenomenon accompanies mallards before nesting and at the end of the mating season. As soon as the females begin to hatch eggs, the males begin to change the plumage. In females, molting begins after the chicks begin to make their first flights. If the female was left without a pair during the mating season, or she did not lay eggs, the molting process will begin at the same time as that of the males. To change the plumage of the mallard usually leave the house in the steppe.

How does reproduction occur?

Puberty in ducks occurs at the age of one year. From that moment on, mallards can already fully reproduce. As a rule, if the ducks do not migrate, then in the fall they begin to look for a mate for themselves. The rest are doing this after the flight to warm countries. Most often in flocks the number of males is significantly greater than the number of females. This is due to the fact that females often die during the incubation of eggs. It is this fact that makes the males participate in the real struggle for females, as well as for the opportunity to continue their race. To show the female their best qualities, the males use certain mating rituals.

First, the drake gently swims up to the female, lowering the beak down. Then it very sharply and with great expression displays the beak upwards several times, the whole process is accompanied by splashes. If he really liked the female, the male begins to hide the beak under the wing, accompanying this action with traditional sounds. If the drake also liked the female, she swims around him for several laps, nodding her head. After that, the resulting pair is removed to a solitary place, where mating occurs.

Traditionally, drake is present next to its half, only until it lays eggs. Further, it adjoins other males and flies away with them to the steppe for molting.

Nest arrangement

Only females are involved in arranging the nest of mallards. Place they can pick up any. Most often for this purpose thickets of reeds or sedges, tree hollows or old nests of other birds are chosen. At the moment when the eggs are laid, the nest is not always completely finished, sometimes the female complements its arrangement after incubation. Females do not like to leave their nest during the hatching of offspring, and therefore they often fall into the teeth of foxes, raccoon dogs or marsh moons.If the female loses clutch, she may next time lay eggs in the nest to the neighbors or in the old nests of other birds. One clutch includes up to 15 eggs. Traditionally, mallards do not lay less than 9 eggs.

After hatching from eggs, the chicks have a fluff of olive or creamy hue on their bodies. In order to start running, diving and swimming, kids need only 20 hours. After that, they begin to feed on their own, to look for insects.

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