Mated pairs migrate to and breed in the northern parts of their country, and build nests on the ground or in a protected cavity that is already hollowed out. Mallard’s line their nests carefully with material such as fluff and down (as you can see in the picture left), of which the male does most of the gathering. The females normally lay about eight to a dozen eggs, and the incubation period lasts just under a month. Mallards are extremely territorial during most of this period, but once incubation is well underway, males abandon the nest and join a flock of other males. The eggs take about a month to hatch. The female incubates the eggs.
Mallards are an abundant city and suburban park duck, mainly because of constant feedings by park visitors. This means that they can become very bold and approachable. However, in more natural settings and where Mallards are heavily hunted, they can be very wary of approaching people. They commonly associate with and may even mate with other dabbling ducks (such as moorhens and coots), familiarising themselves via a huge variety of displays that can be fascinating to watch and decipher.
NESTING AND BEHAVIOUR
5
DID YOU KNOW
A female mallard will always nest in an area near where she herself hatched (the males get no say in the matter!).
Most displays are ritualized versions of common motions: males may face off with a head-bob, threaten an aggressor with an open bill, or push against each other, breast to breast. Paired males defend their territories with vigorous acrobatic chases, and court females by shaking or flicking the head side to side, looking over their shoulder, or raising up in the water and flapping their wings. If she is impressed, a female encourages a male by nodding her head back and forth or paddling with her head held low.