Mallard is a typical representative of water birds. Mallard is the common name of mallard in the northern hemisphere. Wild ducks belong to the order Birds, order Anseriformes, and family Anatidae; they are very numerous and are the popular name for many wild ducks, with more than ten species.
Wild ducks can carry out long-distance migration flights, and the highest flight speed can reach 110 kilometers per hour. The female mallard duck is smaller, with a body length of 50-56 cm and a weight of about 1kg; the young mallard ducks have black and gray down feathers all over their bodies, with alternating light yellow down feathers on their face, shoulders, back and abdomen, their beaks and feet are gray, and their toes and claws are yellow. .
Mallards in the narrow sense refer to mallards, also known as big mallards, big red-legged ducks, hemp ducks, etc. They are the most common large wild ducks and the ancestors of all domestic ducks except Muscovy ducks. They are the main targets for artificial domestication.
Extended information
The young mallard duck has black and gray down feathers all over its body, with alternating light yellow down feathers on its face, shoulders, back and belly. Its beak and feet are gray, and its toes and claws are yellow. There are certain rules for the growth and changes of feathers. At 15 days old, the coat color all turns to grayish white, and the abdominal feathers begin to grow; at 25 days old, the wing feathers grow, and the side feathers are straight and spread; at 30 days old, hard hair tubes are seen on the wing tips, and the abdominal feathers are all straight.
At 40 days old, the feathers are all in length, and the wing tip is about 4 cm long; at 45 days old, the tail feathers are spread out; at 50 days old, the back feathers are all in length, and the wing tip feathers are about 8 cm long; at 60 days old, the wing feathers are elongated to 12 cm , the brocade feathers of the ailerons begin to grow; at 70 days old, the main wing feathers are 16 cm long, and the brocade feathers are all in length, and they start to fly; at 80 days old, the feathers are all in length, and the wings are 19 cm long, with the morphological characteristics of an adult duck .
Baidu Encyclopedia-Wild Duck