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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 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 .
Hundreds of kilometres from any other duck and without a mate, he was known as "the world's loneliest duck", [4] although accompanied by a rooster, a chicken and a weka. [2] Trevor was named after Trevor Mallard, Speaker of the New Zealand House of Representatives. [10]
Most breeds and varieties of domestic duck derive from the mallard, Anas platyrhynchos; a few derive from Cairina moschata, the Muscovy duck, or are mulards, hybrids of these with A. platyrhynchos stock. [2] Domestication has greatly altered their characteristics. Domestic ducks are mostly promiscuous, where wild mallards are monogamous ...
Bird anatomy, or the physiological structure of birds' bodies, shows many unique adaptations, mostly aiding flight.Birds have a light skeletal system and light but powerful musculature which, along with circulatory and respiratory systems capable of very high metabolic rates and oxygen supply, permit the bird to fly.
However, animals may also imitate the behavior of a small rodent or alternative prey item for the predator; [13] [14] [15] imitate young [12] or nesting behaviors such as brooding (to cause confusion as to the true location of the nest), [13] mimic foraging behaviors away from the nest, [9] or simply draw attention to oneself.
Eggs collected from a nesting bird colony on Laysan island. Early 1900s. Colony-nesting birds have been used by humans as a source of food in the form of eggs and meat, down for bedding, feathers for quill pens, and guano for fertilizer. Over-exploitation can be devastating to a colony, or even to an entire population of a colonial species.
The mottled duck (Anas fulvigula) [note 1] or mottled mallard is a medium-sized species of dabbling duck. It is intermediate in appearance between the female mallard and the American black duck . It is closely related to those species , and is sometimes erroneously considered a subspecies of the former.