Mallards of Maryland

About Mallards

Mallards male mallards have a iridecent green head, yellow bill, with a white ring around the neck. Females have a brown color with a more orange bill; both male and female have a blue spot on the wing boarded with white.

The Quack noise synonymous with ducks is actually the sound female mallards make. The male mallards don't quack, they make a softer raspy noise.

Mallards are a type of duck known as dabbling ducks. In the united states we have 18 differnt types of dabbling ducks. A dabbling duck is a Freshwater duck that tips its head under water to feed. Unlike other types of ducks like diving ducks.

Male Mallards are also called Drakes -- Female Mallards are called Hens

The pairs are formed long before breeding season. Only the mallard hens inccubate the eggs.

Similar to other ducks mallards shed all flight fethers during breeding season. They are left flightless fot 3-4 weeks.

Life span, habbitat, and food

• Location--They can be found in the Chesapeake Bay area year round
• Size-- 23-25 inches in length with a wing spand of 36 inches.
• Diet-- Seeds, Snails, Insects, Baygrasses, Aquatic Invertebrates
• Life Expectancy-- about 20 years

Oldest mallard was a banded male shot in Louisiana. He was banded in 1981- he was 27 and 7 months old.