Mallard

Left: female Mallard preening. Right: male Mallard

NPS Photo / Rachel Ames

Size: 19.5-25.5”
Description: Males have a gray body; brown breast; black rear; a dark, iridescent-green head; narrow white throat band, and bright yellow bill. Females and juveniles are mottled brown with orange and brown bills. Both sexes have a white-bordered blue speculum patch on the wing.
Migratory Status: Spring, summer and fall residents of Rocky Mountain National Park.
Habitat: Live in all types of wetland habitats including ponds, lakes, reservoirs, marshes and rivers to 9,000 feet and occasionally 11,000 feet.
Diet: Forage by dabbling in the water and surrounding shores, and eat a wide variety of aquatic vegetation, seeds and insects.

 

• Mallard (call)

  
  

  Mallard calls from a female recorded at Bierstadt Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park. Note that a Ruby-crowned Kinglet and Dark-eyed Junco can be heard faintly in the background.

  Credit / Author:

  J. Job

  Date created:

  06/07/2017

  Audio Transcript

  Transcript due 4/1/2025