Anas platyrhyncos Mallard Feather Ducks Birds Aves Anseriformes Anatidae

Feather Bird Mallard Anas crecca cm 10-13 Ducks Birds Aves Anseriformes Anatidae.
Family: Anatidae (ducks).
Common name: Mallard or Wild Duck.
Syn. Anas boschas, Anas adunca.

The mallard (Anas platyrhynchos Linnaeus, 1758) is a bird of the Anatidae family.
It is considered the progenitor of most domestic duck breeds, with the exception of those derived from the Muscovy or Musk duck and the zootechnical crosses that occurred with the latter.
This species is characterized by a marked sexual dimorphism: males and females are very similar in shape, but differ in the color of their plumage for a good part of the year.
Like some other species, its external characteristics include a robust body, a short neck, a wide and flat beak (hence the Latin name platyrhynchos, a portmanteau of the Greek words platys, meaning broad and rhunkhos, beak), slightly convex and with a very sharp tip. rounded. The webbed legs allow the mallard not only to move with elegance and agility in the water, but also to dive easily, keeping the rear part of the body afloat thanks to the help of the tail.
The "nail" shape of the tip of the beak is used to detach plants from the ground and hunt small prey. The mallard can also feed on tiny animals by filtering water and mud through the use of comb-shaped transverse gills inside the beak. Their diet is very varied, but they feed in particular on gastropods, insects (in particular flies and dragonflies), but also crustaceans and worms sensu largo. During fall migration and winter, these birds base their diet on plants such as javone, which grow near water.
The mallard is the most widespread of the wild duck species and the most numerous: there are an estimated 9 million individuals in Western Europe alone. In some countries it is considered an invasive species.
Outside of the breeding season, mallards gather in flocks of hundreds that tend to participate in the same activity at the same time. Once winter is over, the flocks disperse into groups of several pairs, each looking for a suitable nesting site.
Mallards are territorial and become very aggressive when an intruder invades their territory. They can lay up to 100 eggs per year.
3 subspecies of mallard have been identified:
Anas platyrhynchos platyrhynchos - Linnaeus, 1758.
Anas platyrhynchos conboschas - Christian Ludwig Brehm, 1831.
Anas platyrhynchos diazi - Robert Ridgway, 1886.