Mallard - psilos bird photography

To breed, the male attracts the female mate by ruffling his bright feathers. However he doesnt stick around for long because as soon as incubation begins he is off to join the other males. I dont know if the male below was part of this family or whether he just happened to be going in the same direction!

Mating takes place in the spring and to the observer can appear to be very brutal. Female Mallards do not pair up but merely attract a male. In many cases however, many males are attracted and many females are drowned (sometimes whilst she already has ducklings) whilst many males try to mate with her at once. Those that do mate successfully often have wounds to the head like on the female shown below.

The female produces between 8 and 10 light green eggs which she incubates for 30 days. The ducklings are lead to water as soon as their soft, downy feathers are dry and they first fly about 2 months after hatching. Whilst young the female is very protective of her young and when feeling threatened the ducklings will take refuge under their mothers wing. (below)

Sometimes the occassional golden mallard duckling will appear amongst a brown brood. This is the result of crossbreeding.

The duckling above is about 3 weeks old. The duckling below is a hybrid from the black and white female.

These are juvenile Mallards that are almost fully grown.