Mallards: the ducks with gleaming green heads

While traveling along the Kootenai River recently, my attention was drawn to a flock of Mallard ducks flying high over-head in an organized flight pattern. The Mallard duck flies in a V-formation in order to have the lead bird break the head-winds and lower the resistance for the others. As the flock disappeared from sight I thought how the mallard reminds us that we accomplish more if we work together.

Perhaps the most familiar of all ducks, Mallards occur throughout Boundary County, Idaho and North America in ponds and parks as well as wetlands, lakes and rivers. The male’s gleaming green head, gray flanks, and black tail-curl make it the most easily identified duck.

From fall to spring, breeding male mallards, also known as “drakes” will sport a remarkable green iridescent plumage on their heads with a white band around their necks. Female ducks, also known as “hens,” have less dynamic mottled brown to tan plumage. Both sexes of mallard ducks have a white and blue speculum along the back edge of their wings.

Each summer, after the four- or five-month mating season has ended, male mallards will molt their feathers, and they will be left with a brown plumage like their female counterparts.

In the fall male mallards will undergo a second molt, after which their distinct coloration will return.

The outer feathers of ducks are waterproof. Ducks have a special oil producing gland near their tail that spreads and covers their outer coat of feathers. Beneath their waterproof layer of feathers, ducks have a layer of fluffy and soft feathers called down which keep them warm in cold temperatures.

A mallard measures about 18-27 inches in length and has a wingspan of approximately three feet. They are excellent endurance fliers, flying at sustained speeds of up to 40 miles per hour under their own strength. With a strong prevailing tail wind, they may travel 800 miles in 8 hours. Mallards usually fly at altitudes between 400 to 2,000 feet, but have been spotted much higher and have even got into crashes with commercial airliners above 20,000 feet.

Mallards choose new mating partners each fall, staying together throughout the winter and into the spring mating season.

Once mating season has ended, the male mallard moves away from the female. A female will build a nest out of breast feathers and twigs near a body of water. The hen will then lay a clutch of as many as 13 eggs and incubates them for a month. Once the ducklings hatch, they are immediately taken to water for safety.

Mallard ducklings are precocial, meaning they know how to swim and feed right after they are hatched. “The ducklings will follow their mother for the next 50-60 days, maturing and developing their ability to fly. Male mallards have no involvement in caring for their offspring. Ducks reach breeding age after a year, and can live generally 5-10 years in the wild.

The oldest known Mallard was a male, and was at least 27 years, 7 months old when he was shot in Arkansas in 2008. He had been banded in Louisiana in 1981.

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