Owner Comments:
Our next modern dinosaur is one that is both familiar and rather cute and charming, but as is the case with many animals when they are examined in depth, it has a dark side. This is the Mallard, species name Anas platyrhynchos.
The Mallard is a dabbling duck which naturally ranges across most of North America, all of Europe along with large portions of Asia as well as New Zealand and portions of North Africa and Australia. As the Mallard is the wild ancestor of most breeds of domestic ducks, it has a global distribution if the domestic form is included. Mallards have a wingspan range of 32–39 inches, a length range of 20–26 inches and a weight range of 1.6–3.5 pounds. Both sexes are of similar size, but there is strong sexual dimorphism in the plumage during the breeding season, which the coin shows. The male is the bird with the green head and yellow bill while the female is the brown bird with the darker bill. Once the breeding season is completed, the male undergoes a molt and becomes similar to the female in appearance though the bill remains lighter in color than that of the female.
Mallards are omnivores who feed mainly on aquatic plants and invertebrates., but they have been observed preying on small migratory birds in rare instances. Mallards are noted for their adaptability regarding habitat, being able to colonize urban areas which most other water birds will abandon. The Mallard is also interesting and kind of dangerous in that it can interbreed with many other species in the Anas genus as well as with its domesticated descendent and produce fertile offspring, which can lead to genetic pollution in these species, which can eventually lead to extinction of species if this is not kept in check. This is because the Mallard evolved very rapidly and recently, at the end of the Pleistocene Period less than a million years ago, meaning that it is less diverged from other Anas species than is the case with species that evolved less recently or rapidly.
Unlike many other theropods, mallards do not mate for life. Rather, they form pairs at the beginning of the breeding season, which happens at different times of the year across the Mallard’s wide range. After mating, the males depart to undertake the molt from their breeding plumage aside from the males who did not form mated pairs. These males either standby and wait to father replacement clutches with females who have lost their original clutches or, rarely, these males will gang up and attack females and rape them once they have gotten them to submit. Nature is ugly sometimes, and this is one instance of this. Once the eggs are laid, incubation is done entirely by the female for 25 to 30 days. Mallards lay between 7 and 10 eggs and the young are precocial, being able to walk and swim shortly after hatching. The ducklings stay with their mother until they fledge at between 50 to 60 days of age. During this time, the ducklings learn many things from their mother, such as how to hunt and find food and how to fly. Once they are flighted juveniles, the ducklings learn the migratory routes and destinations from their mothers and other member of their flock. They remember all that they learn during this time for the rest of their lives.
Mallards face many predators, especially when they are young. Eggs and ducklings may be preyed upon by snapping turtles, raptors, skunks and other mustelids, opossums, foxes and other canids, felids and herons. Adults have fewer predators, the main ones being raptors and larger herons, red foxes and humans. Mallards are also at risk of being killed by swans in fights over territory. If they can avoid these threats, mallards can live for around 20 years, but 5 to 10 years is more typical for wild Mallards.