Wesley's Backyard Birds
Mallard Duck

Mallards are everywhere around here year-round and I never think to take a picture of them since they are so common. A couple landed in the field behind us so I thought I'd take a picture to put on this site. In the Spring time you'll see 'married' couples floating in the irrigation ditches with a babies trailing behind. The Mallard is the ancestor of nearly all domestic duck breeds (everything except the Muscovy Duck). Many of the domestic breeds look like the wild birds, but usually are larger. They are variable in plumage, often lacking the white neck ring or having white on the chest. Feral domestic ducks breed with wild Mallards and produce a variety of forms that often show up with wild ducks, especially in city parks. The Mallard is the most widespread and abundant duck in North America, and the most heavily hunted.