S. M. Garver - Wildlife Photos - Mallard photos page 7 of 7

This page highlights duck features and sizing.

Page 7 of 7
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Mallards have light brown eyelids.
[A mallard is taking a snooze while resting on the grass.]

And some watch you while they rest.
[A mallard with its green head has its bill completely tucked under its back wing as it stands at the water's edge resting. It has one dark eye watching the camera.]

They also have tongues!
[Close head photo of a male mallard with its mouth open. It has a pink tongue.]

These are both ducklings. The bill color indicates the top mallard is male and the one in front is female. The male also has a slightly darker chest.
[Two growing ducklings (big, but without flight feathers) stand in the grass near the water's edge. The front one with an orange bill faces the camera. The back one has its side facing the camera but its head turned toward its sister and it has a much lighter (yellowish) bill.]

Mallards have claws on the ends of their webbed feet.
[Close view of the orange feet of a mallard. It has three toes with claws on the front and a small, skinny four toe with a claw which is like a support in the back.]

He's scratching an itch.
[A mallard stands on one leg in the water while he flips up the other one and bends his head down to use the claws on his foot to scratch his face.]

I love the outline of the feet in this image.
[A mallard flies away from the camera. While the white feathers on the right wing can be seen, the rest of the body is a silhouette and the webbed feet are hanging straight down.]

This female mallard no longer has half her right foot and part of her left. While she may be okay walking, I would think she'd be slower paddling in the water.
[A mallard stands on the dirt near the water's edge. Her left foot is missing not only the webbing, but also nearly all of the left-most toe of that foot. Her left foot is missing about half the left-most toe on that foot.]

This female mallard is missing a large chunk of her bill, but she seemed to be eating and drinking successfully.

Coming in for a landing!
[A mallard is several feet off the ground. Its body is arched inward as its head and feet are forward (a reverse C shape). Wings are outstreched behind it and its tail is down.]

The good food is straight down and since their bodies are meant to float, mallards have to use their feet to help keep their heads down.
[A mallard's back end is in the air above the water with its feet straight back at the water's edge while the head is completely submerged.]

Snowy egret on the left and growing ducklings (no flight feathers yet) on the right.
[The longer-legged all white egret walks through the water. One mallard standds at the water's edge while two others stand on land. The mallards have white specs where the flight feathers will eventually grow.]

Let's all scratch ourselves with our bills.
Growing ducklings on the left and a juvenile wood stork on the right.
[All the birds stand on a hillside. The seven ducklings (who are pretty big, but still don't have flight feathers) stand together and at least 4 of them have their heads bend to scratch their bellies. The wood stork stands lower on the hillside with its head turned so its bill is scratching within its side feathers.]

This male mallard in eclipse plumage is standing very upright. Usually mallards walk with their bodies lower to the ground.
[The mallard has very little teal on its head and its belly is very visible because it stands upright exposing nearly all of it. The duck looks quite tall. The belly color is a mixture of grey and rust.]

Return to page 1 to view the mallard stories again.

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Continue to the pages where you watch the ducklings grow over time and see the male mallards change colors.