Mallard

Anas platyrhynchos

Year-round in CharlotteCommon

The take

The default pond duck — the green head is the one duck ID everybody already knows.

How to ID it

  • Males have an iridescent-green head, yellow bill, and gray body between a brown breast and black rear
  • Females are mottled brown with an orange-and-brown bill; both sexes show a white-bordered blue wing patch
  • Dabbles by tipping forward to graze underwater plants, almost never diving

Field marks at a glance

Size
large
Head
iridescent green (male)
Call
classic quack (the female)

Where & when

Year-round in Charlotte — best odds at freedom park.

Learn more

Sources