The mallard is a large dabbling duck native across the Northern Hemisphere and one of the most familiar and widespread waterfowl species in the world, found on ponds, lakes, rivers and wetlands from cities to remote wilderness. The male, or drake, is striking in breeding plumage with an iridescent green head, white neck ring and chestnut breast, while females are a mottled brown that provides camouflage while nesting on the ground. Mallards feed by dabbling at the water surface or tipping tail-up to reach submerged vegetation, seeds, invertebrates and small aquatic animals, and they readily adapt to human-altered environments, often becoming tame in urban parks. The species is the ancestor of nearly all breeds of domestic duck, and it interbreeds readily with other duck species, which has caused conservation concern for some rarer relatives whose gene pools risk being diluted. Mallard populations remain large and stable across most of their range, and the species is a major target of waterfowl hunting in many countries.
Facts
Classification
Population Trend Relationship to PeopleInvasive or Introduced Species 2 Living or ExtinctDerived from this species' own Conservation Status: this atlas's IUCN category list has no Extinct value, so a set conservation-status is itself evidence of living status (w-bfill-g5-0924 browse backfill). Scientific Name Conservation Status Population EstimateGlobal figure as of 2025; the same source states the population is decreasing. Identification
Distinguishing AppearanceThe breeding male mallard is unmistakable, with a glossy bottle-green head and a white collar that demarcates the head and neck from the purple-tinged brown breast. 1 Connections
Child Taxon Of
In Ecosystem
Source World Wildlife Fund
Sources
1. Mallard (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationLead paragraph, sentence 1
The mallard or wild duck (Anas platyrhynchos) is a dabbling duck that breeds throughout the temperate and subtropical Americas, Eurasia, and North Africa.
Status and conservation section
Since 1998, the mallard has been rated as a species of least concern on the IUCN Red List of Endangered Species.
Description section
The breeding male mallard is unmistakable, with a glossy bottle-green head and a white collar that demarcates the head and neck from the purple-tinged brown breast.
Status and conservation section, population figure sentence
This is because it has a large range-more than 65,000,000 km2 (25,000,000 sq mi), though its very large population - estimated at more than 17 million mature individuals as of 2025 - is decreasing.
View the Source 2. Wikipedia: Mallard
threat (MediaWiki batch-API article extract states it plainly)
The non-migratory mallard interbreeds with indigenous wild ducks of closely related species through genetic pollution by producing fertile offspring.
human-interaction (MediaWiki batch-API article extract states it plainly)
It has been introduced to New Zealand, Australia, Peru, Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina, Chile, Colombia, the Falkland Islands, and South Africa.
Description
Mallard populations remain large and stable across most of their range, and the species is a major target of waterfowl hunting in many countries.
View the SourceCatalogue of Life
Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of LifeChild Taxon Of: AnseriformesView the Source World Wildlife Fund
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