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The mallard (/ ˈ m æ l ɑːr d, ˈ m æ l ər d /) or wild duck (Anas platyrhynchos) is a dabbling duck that breeds throughout the temperate and subtropical Americas, Eurasia, and North Africa. It has been introduced to New Zealand , Australia , Peru , Brazil , Uruguay , Argentina , Chile , Colombia , the Falkland Islands , and South Africa .
A male mallard. The speculum feathers are bright blue with white edges. The speculum is a patch, often distinctly coloured, on the secondary wing feathers, or remiges, of some birds. Examples of the colour(s) of the speculum in a number of ducks are: Common teal and green-winged teal: Iridescent green edged with buff. [1]
Mallard ducks are used extensively in the production of balut—female (left) and male (right). Balut (/ b ə ˈ l uː t / bə-LOOT, / ˈ b ɑː l uː t / BAH-loot; [1] also spelled as balot) is a fertilized developing egg embryo that is boiled or steamed and eaten from the shell.
Ducks have been farmed for thousands of years. [12] They are reared principally for meat, but also for duck eggs. [13]: 258 Duck husbandry is simplified by aspects of their behaviour, including reliable flocking and the ability to forage effectively for themselves in wetlands and water bodies. [12]
The Saxony has only one colour variety, buff-blue mallard: [a] the drake has a greyish-blue head, white neck-ring, and rust- or chestnut-coloured breast feathers; the duck is a rich, light buff colour with two white stripes on each side of the face, one over the eye and the other from the eye towards the beak. [10]
A crest of feathers may appear in any duck breed or type deriving from the wild Mallard, Anas platyrhynchos, with a frequency of some 0.0001%–0.001% of all eggs hatched. [9]: 89 It results from the action of a very variable autosomal dominant allele, which is semi-lethal and may display incomplete penetrance as well as incomplete dominance.
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The clutch size ranges from 5 to 16 eggs. The incubation period is 21 to 23 days. [16] [20] The young fledge 34 to 35 days after hatching or usually before 6 weeks of age. [16] [19] Young green-winged teal have the fastest growth rate of all ducks. [16] The males leave the females at the start of incubation and congregate on safe waters to molt.