Read an Excerpt
Mostly Green
Mallard
Look for the green head
What to look for: green head with a white necklace, rusty-brown chest, gray sides, yellow bill, orange legs and feet
Where you'll find them: lakes and ponds, rivers and streams, and maybe even your backyard
Calls and songs: the male doesn’t quack; when you think of how a duck sounds, it’s based on the female Mallard’s classic loud quack
On the move: mostly in flocks of 6–10, especially in spring; sometimes in huge flocks with hundreds of ducks
What they eat: seeds, aquatic plants and insects; visits ground feeders offering corn
Nest: ground; Mom builds it from plants nearby
Eggs, chicks and childcare: 7–10 greenish-to-whitish eggs; Mom incubates the eggs and leads the young to food
Spends the winter: doesn’t migrate in Wisconsin
Stan's Cool Stuff: This is a dabbling duck, tipping forward in shallow water to eat plants on the bottom. The male has black feathers in the center of its tail that curl upward. The common name “Mallard” means “male” and refers to the males, which don’t help raise their young.
REAL QUICK
- Size: 19-21"
- Nest: ground
- Feeder: ground
- Range map: year-round
