Ask someone to think of a duck, and they’ll almost certainly visualise a mallard. It’s the quintessential duck, most likely because of their ubiquity; they can be found on almost any body of freshwater across Europe, Asia and North America. It’s the male that captures most of the attention. He’s a dapper fellow, with his glossy, iridescent dark green head, bright yellow bill, smart white collar and curly black tail feathers – which gave rise to the slang for a fashionable 1950s hairstyle known as the ‘DA’ or ‘duck’s arse’.
While the male steals the show, the female’s mottled brown and grey plumage has a more practical function – it helps keep her inconspicuous while sitting on eggs, which usually occurs between March and July. She’ll normally lay around a…
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The Simple Things (Digital) - 1 Issue, April 2025