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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 female mallard duck incubates her eggs. Egg incubation is the process by which an egg, of oviparous (egg-laying) animals, develops an embryo within the egg, after the egg's formation and ovipositional release. Egg incubation is done under favorable environmental conditions, possibly by brooding and hatching the egg.
The White Muscovy and the Pekin are the two most common purebred, commercially farmed ducks. Hybrids of the two are hardier and calmer, in addition to exhibiting natural hybrid vigor. [2] The incubation period of the hybrid eggs is between the mallard and Muscovy, with an average of 32 days. About half of the eggs hatch into mulard ducks.
Domestic ducks are mostly promiscuous, where wild mallards are monogamous. Domestic ducks have lost the mallard's territorial behaviour, and are less aggressive than mallards. [7] [8] Despite these differences, domestic ducks frequently mate with wild mallard, producing fully fertile hybrid offspring. [9]
The Muscovy is commonly reared for meat. [4]: 78 Mulards from the crossing of a Muscovy duck (Cairina moschata) and a wild-type mallard (Anas platyrhynchos)In commercial production, it is often crossed with a mallard-derived domestic duck such as the Rouen or Pekin to produce the hybrid known as a mulard.
Possible backcross between a Mallard and American black duck. All the species within the mallard complex are known to hybridize with other members within overlapping ranges. Mallards, both domestic and wild in particular are notorious hybridizers, know to frequently hybridize within the mallard complex and even outside of Anas.
The word duck comes from Old English dūce 'diver', a derivative of the verb *dūcan 'to duck, bend down low as if to get under something, or dive', because of the way many species in the dabbling duck group feed by upending; compare with Dutch duiken and German tauchen 'to dive'.
They can be distinguished from most ducks on size, shape, and the speculum. Separation from female common teal is problematic. In non-breeding (eclipse) plumage, the drake looks more like the female. It is a common duck of sheltered wetlands, such as taiga bogs, and usually feeds by dabbling for plant food or grazing. It nests on the ground ...