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Mallards: How to Distinguish Drakes from Hens in the Early Season. This week’s duckology reveals tips for how to most reliably distinguish male mallards from females during the early season. Up on the breeding grounds — and especially in Canada — seasons start early.
- How Can You Tell If A Mallard Is Male Or Female?
- What Does A Female Mallard Look like?
- Are Female Mallards Bigger Than males?
- Behavior Differences
- Singing and Calls
- Nesting
- Feeding
- Can Female Mallards Raise Young Alone?
- Can A Male Duck Turn Into A Female?
In winter and spring, telling a male mallard from a female is simple. Male mallards are one of the most recognizable duck breeds in the world. They are easily identified, with an iridescent green head, pale gray body, black curled tail feathers, chestnut breast, and thin white collar around their necks. In contrast, female mallards are rather more ...
Female mallards are a mottled brown, with darker brown feathers on their heads. They have a violet-blue wing flash (known as a “speculum”) tipped with black and white bars. Their underparts are paler, and their tail feathers are white. Female mallards have orange-red legs and feet. Their bills are a brownish-orange shade, marked with black splodges...
Adult female mallards are on average 58 cm (23 in) in length and weigh 1.1 kg (2.4 lbs). Males are slightly larger and heavier, measuring 63 cm (24.7 in) and weighing 1.2 kg (2.7 lb).
Both male and female mallards can display particularly aggressive behavior during the breeding season. Male mallards significantly outnumber females, and have an innate instinct to mate. Unpaired females are regularly and often particularly violently targeted by males for ‘forced mating’. One explanation for this gender imbalance in the mallard pop...
Vocalizations differ between male and female mallards. Females have a wider repertoire, and are well-known for the noisy ‘quacking’ sound typically associated with ducks. They make this sound between 2 and 10 times in succession, starting off as a harsh, loud sound, and then becoming softer and calmer. It is used as a mating call, and can also be h...
Female mallards are dominant when selecting a nesting site, where alone they construct a shallow scrape, in sheltered vegetation near to water, well-hidden from view of predators. While laying is ongoing, the nest siteis guarded by the protective male; however, once the clutch is complete and the female begins incubation, the male mallard’s input i...
During the breeding season, male and nonlaying female mallards typically eat a dietthat is one-third animal matter (insects, crustaceans, and worms), and two-thirds plant matter. Food eaten by laying female mallards, in contrast, is more than 70 percent animal-based. For both males and female mallards during autumn and winter, plants form the large...
Female mallards raise their young single-handedly. Shortly after laying is complete, males move on to their molting grounds, while females are left to incubate eggs and subsequently raise the ducklings for their first few weeks of life. Males typically play no active role beyond initially guarding a nest site until the female has finished laying th...
Male mallards do not turn into females, but do undergo a change of plumage that makes them lose their distinctive bright feathers and become more similar in appearance to females. During what is known as the ‘eclipse molt’, males take on a dull, brown appearance in order to easily camouflage themselves against their marshland molting grounds. Initi...
Male and female mallard ducks have drastically different colorations. Male mallards, known as “drakes,” have bright green heads, yellow beaks, cream-colored bodies, and dark brown chests. Female mallards, simply known as “ducks,” or “hens,” are much more demure in coloration.
Jan 7, 2022 · Females are attracted to their bright colors, but it is also believed that mallard drakes use their color to divert predators away from the nest. Mallard hens, on the other hand, are shades of brown so they can blend in with their nest and keep their eggs safe.
- Barbara Bean-Mellinger
The male mallard duck, called a drake, sports a glossy green head, a white ring around its neck and a rich, chestnut-brown breast. The mottled brown female mallard looks...
Mallards are large ducks with hefty bodies, rounded heads, and wide, flat bills. Like many “dabbling ducks” the body is long and the tail rides high out of the water, giving a blunt shape. In flight their wings are broad and set back toward the rear.
Jul 22, 2024 · A male mallard duck (drake) has bright-green head, yellow bill and white collar. The female (hen) has plain brown plumage with an orange bill. Both males and females have a blue wing patch with white borders, most obvious in flight.
