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Mallard

Status Locally common in summer, uncommon in winter. Breeds. Formerly occurred as a rare stray in autumn. A beautiful drake taken on the Grand Pre meadows in October 1900 by D.R. Munro was mounted and displayed as a curiosity. There are a few records of Mallards, all believed to have strayed from their western range, that were shot at widely separated points in Nova Scotia during the early twentieth century. Beginning about 1930, attempts were made to establish this bird in Nova Scotia. In 1941, George W. Tingley released 92 adults on the Amherst Marsh, and during 1953 and 1954 approximately 200 young Mallards were turned loose in the Amherst Point Bird Sanctuary by local sportsmen. There has been a steady increase in numbers since the late 1950s, and birds have now become established remote from places of release. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, more than 50 occurred on successive Halifax West Christmas Bird Counts. Although a few are found in winter among the hardy American Black Ducks on coastal marshes, wintering birds are common only where they are fed artificially at Glace Bay Bird Sanctuary, Sullivans Pond in Dartmouth and the Shubenacadie Wildlife Park, for example.

Description Length: 53-69 cm. Adult male: Head and neck glossy green, a white ring around neck; breast chestnut; upper back dark grayish brown, becoming black on rump and uppertail coverts; wing patch purple, bordered by white and black; tail feathers gray, outer ones paler, the four middle ones recurved; belly pale gray, finely marked with black lines; undertail coverts black; bill greenish yellow; legs orange. Adult female: Top and sides of head pale brown, streaked with dark brown or black; upperparts brown, feathers edged with buff; wing patch as in male: breast and belly buff, mottled with dark grayish brown.

Breeding Nest: On the ground, usually in marshy places near open water. Composed of coarse grasses and reeds and lined with down. Usually well concealed but occasionally exposed. Eggs: 8-14; greenish to olive-buff in colour. Several nests have been reported during May and June in recent years.

Range In North America, breeds mainly from the Aleutian Islands and northwestern Alaska, northwestern Mackenzie, northern Manitoba and northern Ontario, south to northern Baja California, northern Kansas and northern Virginia; also on the coast of Greenland. Winters from southern and western Canada south to Mexico. Widely distributed in Europe and Asia.

Remarks I recount the following incident as an example of the reluctance of imported Mallards to act like normally wild ducks: During winter 1968-69, an overwintering flock at Tannery Swamp, Kings County, attracted much attention because a highway bisects this wet habitat to which the birds cling during the lean months. On 21 January, while motoring on this strip of highway, I was obliged to come to a complete stop behind a row of cars. The Mallards had decided to cross this busy road by foot and succeeded in holding up traffic until the last bird slowly waddled to safety.

Because they interbreed freely with the American Black Duck, the introduction of this species is a mixed blessing in much of its range, the American Black Duck is being replaced by Mallards and hybrid forms. The Mallard tends to occur in more productive marshes and breed later than the black duck, so Nova Scotia remains a stronghold of relatively pure American Black Duck populations.

Females might be confused with female American Black Ducks, but the Mallard is paler, has a white bar on both sides of the purple wing patch, instead of one thin, white line, and its tail feathers are paler.