Mallard

The Mallard is ndoubtedly the most abundant duck in the world. Nearly 10 million live in North America, and millions more are found in Eurasia. Since the Mallard is the ancestor of the common white domestic duck, still more can be added to the total. Mallards frequently interbreed with domestic stock, producing a bewildering variety of patterns and colors. They also hybridize with wild species such as the closely related American Black Duck and even occasionally with Northern Pintails. Strong fliers, Mallards sometimes reach remote oceanic islands where isolated populations have evolved into new species. Like the Mottled Duck, these isolated populations often differ from the Mallard mainly in that they lack the colorful plumage of the male.

Mallard

Description	18-27" Male has a green head,white neck ring, chestnut breast, and grayish body. Speculum metallic purplish blue, bordered in front and back with white. Female mottled brown with white tail and purplish blue speculum; bill mottled orange and black.
Voice	Males utter soft,reedy motes; females,a loud quack.
Habitat	Lakes,ponds,rivers,and marshes.semi-domesticated birds may be found on any body of water.
Nesting	8-10 pale greenish-buff eggs in a shallow bowl of grass lined with down, hidden in marsh grass or on a brush pile near shore.
Other	The Mallard is ndoubtedly the most abundant duck in the world. Nearly 10 million live in North America, and millions more are found in Eurasia. Since the Mallard is the ancestor of the common white domestic duck, still more can be added to the total. Mallards frequently interbreed with domestic stock, producing a bewildering variety of patterns and colors. They also hybridize with wild species such as the closely related American Black Duck and even occasionally with Northern Pintails. Strong fliers, Mallards sometimes reach remote oceanic islands where isolated populations have evolved into new species. Like the Mottled Duck, these isolated populations often differ from the Mallard mainly in that they lack the colorful plumage of the male.
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