Mallard

Description:

The male Mallard has a glossy green head and white collar ring. The upper breast is chestnut with finely streaked silvery grey underparts. The runp and tail coverts are black and the tail grey and white with a curled up tip. The bill is a yellowish green and legs are orange The female Mallard is predominantly mottled with each individual feather showing sharp contrast from buff to very dark brown, a coloration shared by most female dabbling ducks, and has buff cheeks, eyebrow, throat and neck with a darker crown and eye-stripe. Both male and female Mallards have distinct iridescent purple blue speculum feathers edged with white, prominent in flight or at rest, though temporarily shed during the annual summer moult. Upon hatching, the plumage colouring of the duckling is yellow on the underside and face (with streaks by the eyes) and black on the backside (with some yellow spots) all the way to the top and back of the head. Its legs and bill are also black. As it nears a month in age, the duckling's plumage will start becoming drab, looking more like the female (though its plumage is more streaked) and its legs will lose their dark grey colouring

Habitat:

This is a dabbling duck and is commonly seen on salty or brackish water.

Notes:

The breeding season is from September to December, with the peak from October to early November. The female lays about 13 buff-green eggs, one a day, soon after dawn.