Mallard

Mallards are globally widespread ducks, especially dominant across the Northern Hemisphere, with populations also occurring in Africa, South America, Oceania, and on many islands. They use lakes, ponds, rivers, streams, and coastal waters and readily occupy environments altered by people. Both sexes possess an iridescent blue wing patch. Males are particularly recognizable by their glossy green head and neck and curled black tail feathers, whereas females have predominantly mottled brown plumage that provides effective camouflage (Animal Diversity Web).

These adaptable dabbling ducks consume aquatic vegetation, insects, worms, gastropods, arthropods, and grain gleaned from cultivated fields or other human food sources. Mallards reproduce by laying eggs and can breed repeatedly over successive seasons. A clutch contains approximately nine to thirteen eggs, with nine listed as the average, and incubation lasts about 26–28 days. Females reach reproductive maturity at around one year old. Their broad diet and willingness to use many aquatic habitats help explain their exceptionally extensive distribution (Animal Diversity Web).