Mallard Duck

Class: Birds

Order: Anseriformes

Family: Anatidae

Weight: 1-1.5 kg

Height: About 62 cm

Body length: 57-62 cm

Coloration: Mottled, reddish-black

Age of sexual maturity: By the first year of life

Gestation Period: 22-29 days

Lifespan: 15-20 years

Habitat: The mallard duck is widespread in Eurasia and the United States, except in high mountainous regions and desert areas. In Russia, it is found in Siberia, Kamchatka, and the Kuril Islands

Diet: Seeds, fruits, green algae, shoreline and terrestrial plants

Did you know?

• Due to the absence of nerve endings and blood vessels in their legs, mallard ducks do not feel the cold.
• The wild duck’s voice has a unique range. The quack of a mallard does not produce an echo or reflection from objects. Only female ducks quack, using their calls to summon ducklings and drakes.
• Pairs form in the fall, and the female winters with the male.
• Ducklings may imprint on the first creature they see as their mother. This phenomenon is used in agriculture by substituting a hen, ensuring the ducks do not leave the farmyard.