Mallard duck species profile:
Migration
- North America is divided into four major flyways for waterfowl migration.
- Mallards can be found on the Pacific, Central, Mississippi, and Atlantic Flyways.
- Some mallards will travel over 1,500 miles during their annual fall migration.
- Migration altitude varies ranging from 200 feet up to 4,000 feet.
- When spring migration arrives, mating pairs of mallards fly north to the breeding grounds together.
Waterfowl Management
- Moist soil management is simply the strategy of encouraging natural wetland plants to grow so that waterfowl can benefit from a diverse habitat.
- Ducks are most attracted to wetlands with approximately equal coverage of vegetation and open water.
- Ducks of all varieties will visit your property if you develop proper food sources and habitat.
- When creating wetlands, work with what you have. Don’t try and force your land to do some thing it is unable to do.
- Planting different food sources will keep the ducks around longer because they like the variety.
Did You Know
- Some sources think mallards are thought to be the most abundant duck on earth.
- Although there are records of mallards living longer than 20 years, their average life span in the wild is 5-10 years.
- Mallards need adequate nutrition throughout the winter months so they are healthy enough to migrate back to their breeding grounds.
- Mallards rely on a variety of food sources including; invertebrates, amphibians, grains and other cash-crop, fish, aquatic plants as well as various dry-land plants.
Mallard Reproduction
- Mallards start choosing mates in the fall and the courtship can be seen throughout winter and spring.
- The female mallard, or hen, always chooses the breeding grounds.
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