Keith Rogers Recommended for you. The duckling rides around on the adults’ backs, despite being close to half their size at this point. Whereas the Mallard ducklings have only one stripe which runs across their eyes. [32], Several species of duck have brown-plumaged females that can be confused with the female mallard. Mallard ducklings are precocial, meaning they know how swim and feed right after they are hatched. [27] While most are not domesticated, mallards are so successful at coexisting in human regions that the main conservation risk they pose comes from the loss of genetic diversity among a region's traditional ducks once humans and mallards colonise an area. [18] Haplotypes typical of American mallard relatives and eastern spot-billed ducks can be found in mallards around the Bering Sea. Any tips on raising mallard ducklings,gestation,feeding,what age to sell at etc. The ability to navigate over many miles from breeding to wintering grounds is an amazing adaptation. The new feathers are drab in color and considered a duck's basic plumage. [7] It was derived from the Old French malart or mallart for "wild drake" although its true derivation is unclear. These ducks can live 10 years. The mallard is 50–65 cm (20–26 in) long, of which the body makes up around two-thirds the length. [38], The mallard is a rare example of both Allen's Rule and Bergmann's Rule in birds. They are their own species and are closer related to a goose than they are a duck! When taking off, the wings of a mallard produce a characteristic faint whistling noise. And it’s legs will lose dark grey coloring after one month. Each duckling was individually marked by a series of web punches. [119], The Laysan duck is an insular relative of the mallard, with a very small and fluctuating population. [21], Due to the variability of the mallard's genetic code, which gives it its vast interbreeding capability, mutations in the genes that decide plumage colour are very common and have resulted in a wide variety of hybrids such as Brewer's duck (mallard × gadwall, Mareca strepera). Mallards are thought to be the most common duck on the planet. When the Earth's magnetic field is obstructed migrating birds often change or alternate direction and altitude. [4] The scientific name comes from Latin Anas, "duck" and Ancient Greek πλατυρυγχος, platyrhynchus, "broad-billed" (from πλατύς, platys, "broad" and ρυγχός, rhunkhos, "bill"). The Mallard Duck is closely related to domesticated ducks. They range in size from 20 to 26 inches long. Ducks winter in mild areas where food is plentiful and the water rarely freezes like the Mississippi Alluvial Valley in the southern area of the United States. [67][68], The mallard usually feeds by dabbling for plant food or grazing; there are reports of it eating frogs. [73][74] During the brief time before this, however, the males are still sexually potent and some of them either remain on standby to sire replacement clutches (for female mallards that have lost or abandoned their previous clutch)[75] or forcibly mate with females that appear to be isolated or unattached regardless of their species and whether or not they have a brood of ducklings. [96], Since 1998, the mallard has been rated as a species of least concern on the IUCN Red List of Endangered Species. 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