In this video we discover seven interesting facts about Mallards! Mallards are the worlds most common duck and a creature recognised by people around most of the world. If you learnt something new from this video then please let me know what it was in the comments below!
I know some of our viewers dont have English as a first language so here are the mallard facts featured in the video:
1. Precocial: Like many other waterfowl and ground nesting birds mallards are precocial. This means that once the ducklings hatch, they are able to find their own food straight away.
2. Big breeders but early leavers: On average mallards will lay around 11 eggs but have been known to lay as many as 18 in a single nest. Once the ducklings have hatched, they all leave the nest and never return to it.
3. Boys vs Girls: Mallard are sexual dimorphic. This means that throughout most of the year, the male or drakes appearance is very different to the female ducks. However, once a year mallards moult their feathers and at this time the drakes lose their bright green heads and can resemble the female ducks.
4. Whats the quack?: In mallards only the female makes the familiar quacking sound. The drake’s call is a much softer and quieter noise.
5. World wide waddlers: Mallard are most widespread species of duck on the planet. They are found throughout Europe, north America and all across asia. They have also been introduced to Australia, south Africa and south America.
6. Getting cold feet? Mallards spend a lot of their time with their feet dangling in cold water or even walking or standing on ice. This cools the blood in their feet and it could be very dangerous if this cold blod was then pumped back up to their hearts. To solve this, ducks have a special web of veins and arteries in their legs called rete mirabile. This passes the cold blood coming from their feet, very close to the warm blood coming from their bodies and uses counter current heat exchange to warm the cold blood before it reaches the heart.
7. A screw loose? Unlike most birds Mallard drakes have an external penis and this isn’t your everyday garden variety penis either. Theirs is corkscrew shaped and grows to be bigger if they have a lot of competition from other males.
8. Thanks for watching this video, if you enjoyed it, you should watch one of these other videos I have made and remember to subscribe.
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Thank you, I learnt a lot from this! The trouble is, we think we know all about the more common birds, and this proves we certainly don't!
I’m glad you liked the video. There is so much to learn about even the most common species and I will be highlighting some of that in my upcoming videos :)
Mallards are my favourite animal wtf, look how cute they are
There’s a pair of mallards that come to my house in the spring and they just got here yesterday, I’m really happy, I was worried they would “honeymoon” somewhere else 😂
Great. Do they nest there?
@@AShotOfWildlife I’m not an expert, all I know is they come once or twice a day, usually early in the day, they eat, sit around for a while, and leave.
same with me, they go somewhere during the day, but are here early morning and again late afternoon, i've created a little pool for her because she was in my fountain pool, it's the size of her, at least in the pool she can move around....i don't have large shrubs yet, it's april so i would guess they've already started a nest. they were mating this morning...so this is my first experience around ducks, i read the drake takes off once the eggs hatch, where do the females go?
did you give them eat?
@@ch-tc4ct yes i leave food, but now she mostly searches the soil for worms and bugs, but they still eat the corn. he is very relaxed here, because he's her security, that's his job until the ducklings hatch....but here, they're in a fenced no dog yard, today they were here in the middle of the day just sitting in the shade so they must not have laid all the eggs or any, she won't start sitting on them until they've all been laid. i would have thought they'd already doing this, it's the end of April.
My female malard duck died today💔💔 im so broken😓now her husband is looking for her :"( everyone have a good day im so broken
In the beginning of March, our female domestic duck mysteriously disappeared; now the male mallard who was paired up with her is looking and calling for her. This is no joke. He is even looking for new friends. Sadness...
i just have a couple who have adopted our backyard, she was in my little fountain water, so i got a bigger container....they come a couple times a day, she loves her pool. i'm already attached, i'm sorry for your loss
My condolences :( 🌷
@@Hotchpotchsoup thankyou we already got a new one yesterday which is younger shes growing😊😊
Your sweet duck has crossed the rainbow bridge to be with all the other loved pets. I’m so sorry for your loss.
I have had two mallards who visit my yard every summer for the last 3 years. I'm still a little confused as to why they come. I have no water source, except a bird bath, but when I saw them wanting to eat the bird food on the ground, I now place extra food out for them. I have added cracked corn & assorted nuts to the mixture & they eat well. They usually come every day for about 6 weeks & then they are gone. But sometimes they arrive separately. I'm not sure why. I have named them Max & Molly.
They're probably in tune with the energy you give off. I have a friend and she has a similar situation with a family of bobcats. They come to her yard and they play and the act all comfortable and they don't get spooked when they see her. I told her I think one of the factors is they pick up on the vibes she gives off.
Thanks for not feeding them bread
@@Septiviumexe you can't feed them bread?
@@jiveturkey9993 Ducks always drink water after eating, when they do so after they have been given bread, it expands in their stomach. They will feel full, altough they should be eating more. By not eating what they would normally in their natural habitat they will lack vital vitamins and nutrients. Unfortunately many people don't know this and this can make the ducks quite sick. If you want to feed the ducks corn, halved grapes, peas and lettuce should be the options. These foods have greate nutritional value to them and won't hurt the ducks. Also everything should be bite sized for them or they could choke on the food. I think it's important for people to know these kind of information. If we feed them the wrong kind of food we will do more harm than good. maineaudubon.org/news/dos-and-donts-of-duck-feeding/
We have a mallard couple too that Visits the puddle in the back yard, for years they have come in the spring. and they are Duckworth and Betty !
Lmao the corkscrew ending was a brilliant bit.
Thanks Liam for the Mallard facts! Have a good weekend! // Bertil.
I knew several things about them but I was surprised and interested on the Loose Screw 🤣🤣 and the sound difference between male and females! I thought they all made the same sounds. Really like your videos, hoping to see more like this one!
Thanks! I am glad you enjoyed this video and the format, I am currently working on a few more like this so should be able to release another in the next few days :)
I enjoyed this video. It was very interesting. Thanks Jacq
Another fascinating video. Thanks :)
Very informative video!
Thanks for sharing this video
Thanks for commenting!
One of the families in my backyard had 34 babies w/ them last summer. & they were ALL the same size & age (or stage) so I’m close to positive they were all hatched from the same time, & nest, but they MAY have picked up some of them on their own along the way. 🤣 I’ve watched babies go from one family to another & then just stay w/ the other family! I’ve also watched a nest of 26 hatch all from ONE mommy! It’s amazing how many eggs these females can lay & take care of! I know I couldn’t do that! 😅
very interesting!
They are so beautiful I love ducks very much!
Interesting video. Thanks.
Great video.
Cheers!
Good stuff Liam. Enjoyed that. Very educational. I didn't know most of the info! Oh dear! lol
Cheers Tom. I enjoy making all sorts of videos but these listical ones always teach me so much as I put them together :) I hope you are well?
Yes all good here but like many others frustrated by the lockdown restrictions.
mallards give really good advice!
Very beautiful and interesting
Excellent set of species factoids! 👍😎👍 My absolute favourite phrase therein being: "...and this isn't your average garden variety penis either"!!! Whatever one of those might be! Fantastic! I did already know about the difference in the vocalisations though. I vividly remember a camping trip to Searles at Hunstanton back in 2005, during which we were frequently woken by a large group of noisy female Mallards at around 5am, doing a passable impression of a comedy club audience!
Wow what a cool video I love the brits
Learned through time spending with the wild ducks at local pond, that they do indeed have their own individual traits. And some quite comical. ❤
Cute! I didn't realise that drakes are quieter than the females. I love the bonus barnacle goose as well :)
I’m going to do a few videos like this I think. They are a lot easier to put together and hopefully will get more people to the channel and to the videos which took/take a lot more effort :)
@@AShotOfWildlife Nice, sounds great :)
I watched a video where someone was trying to find out why they sound different, and it's because their voice boxes are shaped differently. Now, the purpose for that, they couldn't find out.
In my limited experience it has been the opposite. The Male that comes by is noisy and the female mews like a kitten.
At the school that I go to they have mallards. 3 females and 1 male. Every week, I go to "duckie club" where I can pick them up and play with them. The teacher showed my dad the male duck 2 times. All of the mallards have their wings clipped so they don't fly off. However, they can still slightly fly but not very high.
you deserve more views
Ohhhhhhh wow fantastic and good ok 😍❤️👍🆗
🆒️
fact: mallard duck breast sauteed in a skillet with butter and salt and pepper til they are rare, medium rare inside are delicious.
Scroll down, I think someone's already done that menu option... #wittybanta
@@AShotOfWildlife i take that back, only if they are wild, pen raised or tame mallards dont taste like wild ones, and they tend to be very skinny on the breast even though they have huge frames, a big fat northern mallard that has migrated thousands of miles and lived off all sorts of grains and weed seeds, acorns and and anthropods and bugs will be fat and ready to throw on the smoker after being picked whole, til its rare of coarse ( 120) degrees #ilovegreenheads
Ducks are cool
Very nice video... I have Mallards all year long in my pond. Every morning at 6am I feed them a large cup of sunflower seeds. It's enough for about 20 . On extra cold days we feed them double the amount...Check out them thanking me for breakfast...
Mallard Drakes AND Hens are both Ducks! The hen (female) makes the loud quack and drake (male) has the soft raspy sound.
Male mallards are called drakes and females are called ducks. That is the terminology that is used although pedantically speaking they are both members of the duck family.
@@AShotOfWildlife Females are called hens like the OP stated idiot.
Have some that walk around the apt complex in Florida. I give them bread ends. I feel like I have 24/7 security now lol
I bet they're doing a quaking job... sorry.
Bread isn't healthy for ducks
Two started coming to my backyard a few days ago. One female one male.
Same in mine as well! Love watching them!!
Hi, I live on a lake and am interested in getting 3 mallards as pets. Yes I know they will most likely take off for the winter and there is a chance that they may never come back to me. Once they become old enough to be outside full time, I plan to let them roam freely in my backyard which has direct access to the lake. My question is, will I still have to provide them with a coop or some kind of shelter once they've become fully grown adults? It never gets cold enough for the lake to freeze. Not where I live. Plus a lot of homes have boat decks with a small space underneath that provides good shelter from the sun and rain. I've seen plenty of mallards come and go and some of them rest in these spots.
I've always wondered how the don't get frostbite in their toes.
We have a nearby pond which has mallards and they are funny.
クエっ🦆😊👍
Quack quack
2:16 had me dead 💀😂 👇
The average garden variety sentence?
What do they eat? And what can i feed them ?
I've got a pair of Mallards that show up in my small farm pond every year they don't always raise here this year I built a nest box and she's sitting in it on the eggs while the male Mallard patrols the pond I've often heard that once she lays and starts to incubate the male will leave this one's not leaving he's staying here and he's constantly chasing off other males. I've had people ask me how do you know it's the same pair, well the female mallard has a limp when she walks across dry ground this is the third year they've been at our pond and the first year they have raised or are raising babies. I built a floating nest box and she's sitting in it.
I misread it as Millard’s reaction used a lot in Japanese bakery
i miss my baby boy sm 😞😭
Tiger like.
You should also mention that they’re incredibly resistant to explosions, falling pianos and high voltage. /ref /j
How big is a mallard duck egg? Is it bigger or smaller than a chicken egg?
Most of the time they are slightly larger than a large chicken egg :)
Found a baby mallard at a gas station. Itook it home now what do I do?
Just Today when walking home from work when a mallard came out of nowhere and landed 15 feet away from me in the middle of a culdesac instantly froze in my tracks and just looked at this mallard for 10 seconds before he took flight am 44 years old and have never experienced something like that till now don’t know what to make of that.I had encounters with mountain lions geese squirrels bunny’s owls but nothing like that mallard maybe it is a spiritual thing.
Wait the last part was so random
Also introduced to new zealand
How big is a mallard duck? Is it bigger than a call duck or a seagull?
In size they are about the same as a Gull but with shorter wings. They weigh quite a bit more. I think call ducks may be domesticated versions of mallards.
@@AShotOfWildlife call ducks are the same size?
Mazakde pn 2ahet mallard
Mallard Ducks are the most Iconic Duck
What you don't know is they are sometimes considered an invasive specie!
Mallards molt 2 times a year.
Yes, it’s a bit of a mistake with my wording rather than my meaning.
I don't think they do so in the wild, but domestic Mallards mate for life.
wait so what if my mallards duck are warm?
ouchie aw
My male mallard and my male swan died rip😢 I’m so poor
*fucken hell the train turned into a duck again.*
Huh?
@@AShotOfWildlife the fastest steam engine is called the mallard so i just made a joke
@@pogfish4701 ahh, im with you now lol.
😢
Beautiful birds. A lot of fun to hunt and very good table fare!
Um idk I’m scared 2:16
They're also barbed and fall off after usage
zane
Y
Drakes make: Greb greb (Grab grab) Or They Whistle:Fieb (Feeb)
I think they invented a video with sound couple of years ago... maybe Australia is slow to catch up.
Female ducks are called hens. Duck is the common name for males and females.
Seems to be a 50-50 split on what female mallards are known as, I have always known them as Ducks and Drakes but a few people have commented the same as you that they are called hens.
Female mallards are called Hens
To be honest, I had never heard anyone call a female mallard a hen before but a couple of people have said the same thing. I wonder if it varies based on where you are. Are you American by chance?
@@AShotOfWildlife Yes it must be an American term. As a matter of fact all female ducks are called hens here
Mallard are good to eat but not late in the season when they have been feeding on mussel beds
do Mallards like Metallica?
ermmmmmm? Go on, im sure I have missed something here.
Female is a hen
Or just a duck
@@AShotOfWildlife no
@@joesheehy7856 yes. Google it
Even in ducks, the women are the noisy ones🤣🤣
Oh dear! Perhaps one day ill do a peacock video to level the playing field.
@@AShotOfWildlife lol, a peacock makes terrifying noise. I still stand by my comment😜
There’s some stuff In here that isn’t true
What parts do you think aren’t true?
@@AShotOfWildlife the females are hens not ducks, the quacks from the hens are not to warn the chicks, from what I know ducks don’t have nerves in there feet, ducks do not fend for them selves straight away.
@@amoss.zachywacky9041 yeah the ducklings are very dependent on their mother
Female mallards are called ducks, I just double checked. They do have nerves in their feet. The quaking is questionable, they do quack to warn the ducklings, but may quack for other reasons too. If I used the word independent, I meant they can find their own food, feed themselves, walk around etc, this was a comparison to birds that hatch featherless and sit in a nest relying on their parents for everything.
Lose the music please.
Sorry I just can’t listen to that voice. Fml
You don’t have to if you don’t want to :) I’m sure your voice is soft and sweet, yet deep and booming, a melody for the ears.
@@AShotOfWildlife Don't listen to them great video and I don't see anything wrong with your voice lol
Thanks! I think Amaaar might be a troll :)
Or maybe I genuinely found that the voiceover ruined the video. Great footage. Not so good voiceover.
@@CapitalEquitymoney well fair enough. Thanks for your feedback, which I am going to kindly ignore.