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Every year, habitat conditions for waterfowl change. Check out this year’s habitat conditions to find out more about habitat for mallard ducks and other migratory waterfowl in your area.
The Life Story of the Mallard 
When people think of a duck, many think of the mallard. The mallard, or anas platyrhynchos platyrhynchos, is a duck that is found all over North America. Commonly called greenheads (drakes), grey ducks (hens) and susies (hens), mallard ducks, with their trademark “quack” call, are one of the most recognized of all the ducks.
- What do mallards look like?
- Where do mallards live?
- What do mallards eat?
- What is the mallard’s ‘life story’?
- Mallards need wetlands
What do mallards look like?
Like most duck species, there is a big difference in the way males (drakes) and females (hens) look. In order to attract a hen, the drake is much more colourful. For most of the year, he has a shiny green head, a white-ringed neck, brown chest and grey sides. The drake mallard also sports a brown back, black rump and tail.
The hen, on the other hand, is much less colourful. Her feathers are white and brown, which helps her blend in with her wetland surroundings. However, like the drake, she does have white and blue colouring on the speculum of her wings.
Where do mallards live?
Like other waterfowl, mallards use different habitats for breeding and wintering. During breeding season (spring) they can be found from the northern United States all the way to the Alaskan coast on the Bering Sea.
Within this range, mallards prefer the Prairie Pothole Region of southern Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. This region is marked by numerous wetlands, or ‘potholes’, that offer the wetland and upland habitats mallards and other migratory waterfowl need for breeding and nesting.
Mallards tend to leave their wintering areas early to reach the breeding grounds, usually taking off in February and March. In the spring and fall migration, mallards move through different parts of North America. While most move through the western half of the continent, some can be seen in eastern and Atlantic Canada.
During the winter, mallards can be found throughout many parts of the United States. Many also winter in southern British Columbia, Alberta and northern Mexico. Mallards typically begin their fall migration southward in late September and October.
What do mallards eat?
Mallards are dabbling ducks, meaning that they do not dive underwater for their food, but feed at or just below the surface. They are well adapted to eating both natural and ‘domestic’ foods (such as waste grain from harvests). Most of their diet is made up of plants, such as wetland plants and grains (like wheat, barley, rice and oats).
On occasion, mallards will eat animal foods. In coastal areas, mallards have been known to eat mussels. Mallards in other areas have also been observed eating insects and other invertebrates.
Each spring, the female mallard’s diet switches from plants to aquatic invertebrates found in wetlands. This diet provides her with the nutrition and energy she needs to lay and incubate a clutch of eggs.
During the lead-up to the fall migration, mallards tend to take in more food. By building up a store of fat on their bodies, they have a ready supply of energy and are better able to survive the cooler temperatures and long migratory flights.
The
mallard is one of the most common and easily recognized duck species. Here,
a mallard hen (female) leads her young ducklings to the water. What is the mallard’s ‘life story’?
Mallard duck eggs usually hatch from late April to late May. Under the guidance of their mother, they learn to avoid predators and feed. After about two months, ducklings usually have full-grown feathers and are already flying.
Later in the summer, the ducks begin to move to larger wetlands, where the drakes molt (regrow their feathers). There, many drakes begin to court hens to form pair bonds, or ‘couples’. This is done through aerial courtship displays. They spend the rest of the summer feeding to ‘fatten up’ for the fall migration to the south.
After a winter spent feeding in the warmer southern areas, the mallards return north to breed and nest. Hens typically nest in the cover of the native grasses in the upland areas around wetlands. This usually takes place throughout April and May. Late in May, the first ducklings begin to appear.
Mallards need wetlands
Mallards depend on wetlands and their associated upland habitats to survive. Unfortunately, Canada’s wetlands continue to vanish at an alarming rate. Up to 70 per cent have been lost in some areas of the country.
DUC needs your help to conserve wetland habitats for mallards, other wildlife and people. Learn more about how you can help to conserve Canada’s wetland habitats!