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Male
Location: Lake Murray, La Mesa, CA
Date: 2003-03-21
Lens: Canon 400mm F5.6
Location: Lake Murray, La Mesa, CA
Date: 2003-03-21
Lens: Canon 400mm F5.6
Mallard
Anas platyrhynchos
DescriptionThese are one of the most common ducks in San Diego and all of North America. The females voice is a sort of "Quwaaack", while the males have a softer reedy sound. They feed close to the shoreline and can be seen bobbing upside down looking for food. Mallards pair up with a mate for breeding and can usually be seen swimming around together. The pair migrates to the females place of origin to breed, where the male stays until incubation is well underway.
General:20 to 26 inches in length.
Male: Off-white body with an iridescent green head, a yellow bill, orange legs/feet, a dark brown breast, wings, and neck. The male also has a white ring around it's neck and purple stripes with white borders towards the end of its inner wing feathers.
female: Dramatically different from the male. It has a mottled light brown body, white tail and an orange beak and legs/feet. Like the male, the female has purple stripes with white borders towards the end of its inner wing feathers. Also it's eyeline appears to have a distinctively dark brown stripe across it.
Lakes, ponds, and marshes. These birds are year round residents at Lake Murray and many other lakes and ponds around San Diego County.
Nesting8-10 light olive-green eggs with a 26-30 day incubation period. Fledging occurs 42-60 days after hatching. Down lined nest.
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