This time it’s the humble mallard. There are so many of them around that I tend to take them for granted. But they really are quite spectacular birds.

Some interesting facts about mallards:

• Mallards live in wetlands and are social animals that prefer to congregate in groups or flocks of varying sizes.
• They eat water plants and small animals.
• Females can lay between 5 and 15 eggs, which they incubate for 26 to 30 days.
• The young leave the nest within a day of hatching, led to the water by their mother.
• A mallard usually lives for 5 to 10 years in the wild.
• The oldest known mallard was a male that lived to be 27 years old.
• Mallards are considered an invasive species in some regions.
• They are very adaptable and can live and even thrive in urban areas.
• Mallards prefer calm, shallow sanctuaries, but can be found in almost any body of freshwater across Asia, Europe, and North America.
• Male mallards have vibrant feathers called “drakes”.
• Female mallards are adept at camouflage.
• Mallards are omnivorous.
• Mallards form large flocks during migration.
• Mallards occur in the same basic form across the northern hemisphere. That means a mallard in New York is essentially the same as one in Sandbach (my hometown).
• Evidence suggests that some mallard pairs mate for life.
• During summer molt male mallards lose their bright feathers and can look like females. They have a have a second molt in the fall or early winter, giving them back their brightly colored breeding plumage.

Taken with a Sony A7IV and Tamron 28-300mm f/4-7.1 Di III VC VXD lens.