Mallard
Description: Male: Iridescent green head with a yellow bill and a white neck ring. Body is gray with some black and brown, breast is chestnut. The purple wing patch is the same on both sexes.
Female: Tan with darker brown streaking and an orange and black bill.
Eclipse Phase Male: similar in appearence to female but retains the yellow bill.
Nest: Depression in the ground; lined with feathers from the mother's breast. Surrounding twigs and weeds are used in the nest as well. Usually located in tall grass, under brush piles, and beneath bushes. Often far from water.
Eggs: 5-12 cream to buff, unmarked eggs.
Diet: Seeds, insects and other invertebrates, along with aquatic vegetation. Tips up in the water to feed below, this action is called dabbling.
Habitat: Ponds, swamps, marshes, lakes, shorelines, rivers and even large puddles. Agricultural fields and parks are also possible places to see them. These ducks are very widespread and identifiable. In Fall and Spring these ducks flock together for migration.