A worldwide community photographing and learning about wildlife
Project Noah Nature School
Anas platyrhynchos
Duck with brown breast, yellow bill. Spotted in a mixed group of mallards and mallard-hybrids. This male is in his "eclipse" plumage.
Downtown park with a river running through.
Spotted on Sep 30, 2011
Submitted on Oct 3, 2011
2 Comments
Thanks Clement! I am a total rookie when it comes to birds, especially ducks.
its a male mallard. every year, ducks shed their feathers prior to migrating. when they do this, they loose adult coloring and turn into plumage called "eclipse" plumage. This one is easy to identify because it has a yellow bill and still has a chestnut breast.