What the Duck?

[Jeff]

Caught this guy on the tacticam this morning, but it was still lowlight mode, so no color. Antbody know what it might be by this photo? I've never been a duckhunter. I initially thought Mallard, but???

[Magicman]

I would agree, Mallard Drake.

[SwampDonkey]

Looks like a mallard drake to me. There has been about 40 mallard drakes hanging around on a tiny beaver pond at a neighbor's for the last 4 weeks. The pond is smaller than your man made one, Jeff, by half. And is close beside the main road, but that road has low traffic. It's quite a sight because you usually only get a pair of ducks on such ponds. But this time of year ducks will even gather at small spring pools or mud puddles. At the back of the old farm, a field would flood in spring from overland flow. We called it the lake field. 200 or 300 geese would show up there every spring flying north. The kind of site only a land owner would see, you can't see it from any highway.

[Dakota]

Looks like a Golden Eye duck

[KEC]

With a fair degree of confidence, I concur with drake Mallard. I can't see the white mark on the head seen on Goldeneyes. As they say with pictures of wood: "Post a better pic." Goldeneye are more often on large water bodies.

[Ron Scott]

Yes, to a drake mallard, in the family of pond or puddle ducks. Your developed pond areas have made some prime habitat for mallards and black ducks.

[Jeff]

They are definitely Mallards. They are there every day.

[Resonator]

Always good to have your ducks in a row. (Old saying).  

[TimW]

I raise Mallards.  Here is one hen flying and landing to go to the fish feeding ring to mooch what gets splashed over the fence.

[aigheadish]

Good stuff Jeff!

I really enjoy seeing ducks in the pond. I don't get them often but it makes me feel better when I do!

[TimW]

Two or three times a year, I get  2 or more Black Bellied Whistling ducks on the pond.  I haven't been able to get a good photo, as they are way too skittish to approach.

[Sod saw]

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   Have you thought about installing a game camera on a short pole in shallow water facing away from shore?  Perhaps near something that they might like to eat so they are drawn in closer to the camera.  Puddle Ducks (not large water body type of duck) like shallow weeds and small crustaceans in water that they can reach from the surface.  They can and will dive but they would prefer to just reach down and pluck dinner from the bottom.   (or prefer to have you feed them) 

Is that a Hen just to the left of the Drake?  She appears to be cleaning herself with her head down and her back towards the camera.

Drake and Hen Mallard.  Mallards can breed with Black Ducks and dilute the unique aspects of the Black Duck population.    The Hen is the one with the big mouth and loud quack whereas the Drake is just quiet with a small squeak now and then. 

We used to raise  Wild Mallards and a small percentage would hatch (in incubator)  the same yellow as marsh-mellow Easter Ducks, and grow up healthy to be all pure white.   They normally ended up in the smoker and not released back into the wild.


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