Life can be tough for a mallard mum
The mallard duck is New Zealand’s most numerous water fowl.
Between 1870 and 1930 small numbers of mallards were imported into New Zealand and were bred by Acclimatisation Societies.
As a result more than 30,000 ducks were released throughout the country and numbers multiplied rapidly.
In many districts the mallards mated with the native grey duck and in some places the grey duck was driven away by mallard competition.
As spring approaches mallard drakes develop their breeding plumage and begin to seek out a mate. Their head and neck displays a glossy green and the breast a rich brown.
The back and the flanks are a light grey.
Prominent on the tail are curled black feathers called coverts. These are found only on the male mallard.
Female mallards are a dull brown with each feather edged in a light buff colour. Most have a black eye stripe.
Male and female mallards tend to stay together until the nest site is chosen and the eggs laid, then he will wander off and join with other males or sometimes look for another mate.
Nesting can be a very stressful time for the mallard female.
She can lay more than half her body weight in eggs, an average of twelve per nest, and incubates for 27-28 days before the ducklings hatch.
For the next 50 or so days she looks after the ducklings and they stay near their mother both for warmth and protection.
On average a female mallard will hatch about 10 ducklings and it’s a sad but true statistic that after 10-12 days most will be dead from predation by cats, ferrets, hawks and eels. These days duckling survival is quite low.