Mallard (Wild Duck)

The Mallard is the most familiar and widespread wild duck in the world. Males feature a glossy bottle-green head, a white collar, chestnut breast, and grey body, while females are a mottled brown pattern designed for camouflage while nesting.

Pale grayish-brown to buff coloration with subtle paler tipping and darker brownish subterminal areas.

Pennaceous at the upper tip transitioning into a more plumulaceous, fluffy, and slightly unzipped structure near the base.

Soft, relatively flexible texture with a matte finish and fluffy downy base.

Subtle grayish-brown tones, soft fluffy base typical of waterfowl contour or semiplume feathers, and flexible pale shaft.

Wetlands, marshes, shallow lakes, rivers, ponds, and urban parks with open water.

Widespread across the temperate and subtropical Americas, Eurasia, and North Africa; highly adaptable and largely migratory in northern ranges.

Important part of wetland food webs as both consumer and prey, and acts as a seed disperser for aquatic plants.

Other dabbling ducks such as American Black Duck or Gadwall, which have similarly textured and colored body plumage.

Mallards are the ancestors of almost all domestic duck breeds. They are dabbling ducks, meaning they feed by tipping up in the water rather than diving.

Good condition, mostly intact vane with minor unzipping of barbs near the lower edges.