Anas platyrhynchos, mallard
Snyder, S. A. 1993. Anas platyrhynchos, mallard. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available: https://research.fs.usda.gov/feis/species-reviews/anpl
| Abbreviation | Common Name | Scientific Name | Classification | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Animals | ||||
| ANPL | mallard | Anas platyrhynchos | Life Form: Animals/Bird Kingdom: Animalia Class: Bird Order: Anseriformes Family: Anatidae Genus: Anas | Fed. Protected: No Nativity: Native Invasiveness: Noninvasive |
Taxonomy
The scientific name for the mallard is Anas platyrhynchos Linnaeus [12,19]. The mallard hybridizes with the American black duck (Anas rubripes) and the Pacific black duck (A. superciliosa). There are two recognized subspecies of mallard: A. platyrhynchos ssp. platyrhynchos and A. platyrhynchos ssp. diazi Ridgway (Mexican duck). Anas platyrhynchos ssp. oustaleti (Mariana mallard) is thought to be extinct [12].
Synonyms
- Anas boschas [15]
Other Common Names
None
General Distribution
The mallard has a circumpolar distribution. It occurs throughout North America from northern Canada and Alaska south into Mexico and from coast to coast [12]. It is usually a year-round resident in the central United States and along the West Coast from Baja to southern Alaska. The mallard's breeding range is usually in the more northerly parts of its distribution; it winters in the southern United States and Mexico [15].
States and Provinces
- United States: AL AK AZ AR CA CO CT DE FL GA HI ID IL IN IA KS KY LA ME MD MA MI MN MS MO MT NE NV NH NJ NM NY NC ND OH OK OR PA RI SC SD TN TX UT VT VA WA WV WI WY
- Canada: AB BC MB NB NF NT NS NU ON PE PQ SK
- Mexico
Plant Communities
Mallards mostly inhabit wetland plant communities composed of marsh species such as cattail (Typha spp.), bulrush (Scirpus spp.), smartweed (Polygonum spp.), sedge (Carex spp.), and (Phragmites spp.). They also inhabit brome (Bromus spp.)-wheatgrass (Agropyron spp.) communities [12]. Mallards may use upland meadows for nesting; plants in these meadows may include aster (Aster spp.), sowthistle (Sonchus arvensis), and white-top grass (Scholochloa festucacea) [17].
Biological Characteristics
Development and Reproduction
- Pair formation- mostly complete by autumn but can continue into winter; typically monogamous.
- Breeding/Nesting- March through June.
- Clutch- 5 to 14 eggs; young birds lay smaller clutches; may renest if original clutch is destroyed.
- Incubation- 26 days.
- Fledge- 8 weeks.
- Maturity- 1 year. [2,12,15]
Predators
Predators of mallard include humans, cats, dogs, raccoon, opossum; skunks, weasels, martens; eagles, hawks; crows, ravens, magpies; and turtles, snakes, and fish [13,15].
Habitat
Diet
Mallards eat a variety of aquatic plants and invertebrates as well as crops. Foods include duckweeds (Lemna spp, Spirodela spp.), smartweeds (Polygonum spp.), grasses (Poaceae), sedges (Carex spp.), pondweeds (Potamogeton spp.), rice-cutgrass (Leersia oryzoides), arrowhead (Sagittaria latifolia), wild millet (Echinochloa spp.), crustaceans, worms, snails, spiders, corn, and soybeans [7,12,15]. Acorns in bottomland hardwood types are also important food [14].
Preferred Habitat
Mallards prefer lowland habitat such as marshes, ponds, small lakes, sheltered coastal bays and estuaries, shallow pools, tidal flats, and protected coves [12,15]. They also graze in stubble fields and inhabit low-elevation mountain lakes and streams. Mallards primarily nest in grasslands away from the water's edge but have been known to use old bird nests, tree cavities, rights-of-way, and meadows with woody vegetation [2].
Cover Requirements
Mallards are very adaptable and appear to have only a few specific requirements. They need enough dry ground away from the water's edge for nesting yet plenty of pond area for feeding [2,17]. Also, mallards need the previous year's dead vegetation for nests [15].
Fire-caused Mortality
Fire can and often does destroy mallard nests. However, some females seem devoted to hatching their clutch enough to return to nests to hatch undamaged eggs [9,11].
Fire Effects on Habitat
Burning in late May in Manitoba's pothole region showed a drastic decline in mallard nests initiated immediately following burning. Nest initiations rose again in late June [5]. Mallards are early nesters and are adversely affected by spring burns. Also they prefer nesting in dense cover, which is susceptible to heavy burning [5]. Fires before May 10 in Manitoba negatively affect nesting success, and fires after May 10 affect nesting success of later-nesting species [17]. Also, large scale autumn burns may remove vegetation that is important for capturing snow, which in turn recharges marshes during spring.
Spring burning to remove grass cover showed a slight decrease in mallard nesting on a North Dakota wildlife refuge. On average there were 13 percent fewer of all nesting ducks, including mallard, on plots that were mowed and burned compared to undisturbed plots [13]. Fires on another North Dakota refuge conducted over a 4-year period showed a greater number of nest successes on plots burned in August and September compared to June fires [8]. By the fourth growing season nest success was still greater on the burned plots later, although there was no significant difference between the number of nests on the plots burned in August and September, and the plots burned in June.
Fire Regimes
For fire regime information, search FEIS for this species by entering the species name or acronym on the home page and selecting “Fire Regime” as the publication type.
Fire Management Considerations
Fires can reduce predator activity through elimination of hiding cover [5]. Rotating spring fires have proved effective for enhancing waterfowl habitat in Manitoba. To ensure the maximum area is available for nesting, burning should be done in small parcels [17]. Fire can be used to establish red goosefoot (Chenopodium rubrum), an important duck food, by reducing impenetrable reed (Phragmites spp.) thickets and breaking solid stands of meadow grass. To avoid harmful effects on ducks burning should be done at times other than during the primary nesting season or shortly before [8]. Any burning can reduce nesting cover, however. Autumn fires could potentially destroy rank grasses needed for cover the following nesting season, so some cover should be left at all times. In northern prairies burning should not be conducted any more frequently than every two to three years [8]. Duebbert and others [18] recommend fire for rejuvenating prairie pothole regions of cool- and warm-season grasses. Cool-season native grasses should be burned from late March through mid-May or mid-August through mid-September. Warm-season native grasses should be burned between mid-May and mid-June [18].
Fire has been used to provide openings in cattail (Typha spp.) marshes for mallard foraging. In the St Clair Wildlife Refuge, Ontario, mallards used openings that were created by winter burning followed by spring flooding. Mallard foraging effort was positively correlated with invertebrate biomass and opening size (P<0.001). Burning produced less cattail mortality than winter mowing followed by spring flooding [20]. The Research Project Summary of Ball's [20] study provides details.
Federal Status
None
Other Status
No entry.
Other Management Information
Recruitment of mallards in the prairie pothole region of North America is low even during years of high rainfall and runoff. Wetland density may be a limiting factor in nesting success, although evidence is inconclusive [16]. The creation and restoration of wetlands can increase wetland densities where low.
Setting numerical goals for local populations may be futile due to regional and continental population shifts from habitat changes. Instead, measurement of recruitment parameters at the local level can be used with population models to predict population changes independent of breeding size population [2].
Mallards are susceptible to diseases in urban settings. Food poisoning is especially common in stagnant park ponds where bacteria builds up from heat and where bread is fed to ducks by people [4].
Bottomland oak forests serve as important feeding and wintering areas for ducks. Creating uneven-aged canopies by selection cuts and small clearcuts (0.5 ha or larger) is adequate for maintaining and regenerating oak stands [14]. Reservoirs in these areas should be flooded beginning in mid-September and continued through October. Drawdown should begin in mid-February. Following years of good acorn production, wetland flooding should be withheld for 2 to 3 years so the understory can establish [14].
Table A1— Forest and range ecosystems, Bureau of Land Management (BLM) physiographic regions, Kuchler plant associations, Society for American Foresters (SAF) forest cover types, and Society for Rangeland Management (SRM) rangeland cover types in which this species occurs.
Forest and Range Ecosystems (Garrison et al. 1977)
- FRES15 Oak-hickory
- FRES16 Oak-gum-cypress
- FRES17 Elm-ash-cottonwood
- FRES28 Western hardwoods
- FRES36 Mountain grasslands
- FRES37 Mountain meadows
- FRES38 Plains grasslands
- FRES39 Prairie
- FRES41 Wet grasslands
- FRES42 Annual grasslands
BLM Physiographic Regions (Bernard and Brown 1977)
- 1 Northern Pacific Border
- 2 Cascade Mountains
- 3 Southern Pacific Border
- 4 Sierra Mountains
- 5 Columbia Plateau
- 6 Upper Basin and Range
- 7 Lower Basin and Range
- 8 Northern Rocky Mountains
- 9 Middle Rocky Mountains
- 10 Wyoming Basin
- 11 Southern Rocky Mountains
- 12 Colorado Plateau
- 13 Rocky Mountain Piedmont
- 14 Great Plains
- 15 Black Hills Uplift
- 16 Upper Missouri Basin and Broken Lands
Kuchler Plant Associations (Kuchler 1964)
- K047 Fescue - oatgrass
- K048 California steppe
- K050 Fescue - wheatgrass
- K051 Wheatgrass - bluegrass
- K053 Grama - galleta steppe
- K054 Grama - tobosa prairie
- K056 Wheatgrass - needlegrass shrubsteppe
- K063 Foothills prairie
- K064 Grama - needlegrass - wheatgrass
- K065 Grama - buffalograss
- K066 Wheatgrass - needlegrass
- K067 Wheatgrass - bluestem - needlegrass
- K068 Wheatgrass - grama - buffalograss
- K069 Bluestem - grama prairie
- K070 Sandsage - bluestem prairie
- K071 Shinnery
- K072 Sea oats prairie
- K073 Northern cordgrass prairie
- K074 Bluestem prairie
- K075 Nebraska Sandhills prairie
- K076 Blackland prairie
- K077 Bluestem - sacahuista prairie
- K078 Southern cordgrass prairie
- K079 Palmetto prairie
- K080 Marl - everglades
- K081 Oak savanna
- K082 Mosaic of K074 and K100
- K083 Cedar glades
- K084 Cross Timbers
- K085 Mesquite - buffalograss
- K086 Juniper - oak savanna
- K087 Mesquite - oak savanna
- K088 Fayette prairie
- K089 Black Belt
- K090 Live oak - sea oats
- K091 Cypress savanna
- K092 Everglades
- K094 Conifer bog
- K100 Oak - hickory forest
- K104 Appalachian oak forest
SAF Cover Types (Eyre 1980)
- 16 Aspen
- 17 Pin cherry
- 18 Paper birch
- 63 Cottonwood
- 65 Pin oak - sweetgum
- 88 Willow oak - water oak - diamondleaf oak
- 89 Live oak
- 91 Swamp chestnut oak - cherrybark oak
- 92 Sweetgum - willow oak
- 93 Sugarberry - American elm - green ash
- 94 Sycamore - sweetgum - American elm
- 95 Black willow
- 96 Overcup oak - water hickory
- 101 Baldcypress
- 102 Baldcypress - tupelo
- 103 Water tupelo - swamp tupelo
- 104 Sweetbay - swamp tupelo - redbay
- 217 Aspen
- 235 Cottonwood - willow
SRM Rangeland Cover Types (Shiflet 1994)
- No entry
1. Bernard, Stephen R.; Brown, Kenneth F. 1977. Distribution of mammals, reptiles, and amphibians by BLM physiographic regions and A.W. Kuchler's associations for the eleven western states. Tech. Note 301. Denver, CO: U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management. 169 p. [434]
2. Cowardin, Lewis M.; Gilmer, David S.; Shaiffer, Charles W. 1985. Mallard recruitment in the agricultural environment of North Dakota. Wildlife Monographs No. 92. Washington, DC: The Wildlife Society. 37 p. [18150]
3. Eyre, F. H., ed. 1980. Forest cover types of the United States and Canada. Washington, DC: Society of American Foresters. 148 p. [905]
4. Figley, William K.; VanDruff, Larry W. 1982. The ecology of urban mallards. Wildlife Monographs No. 81. Washington, DC: The Wildlife Society. 40 p. [2041]
5. Fritzell, Erik K. 1975. Effects of agricultural burning on nesting waterfowl. Canadian Field-Naturalist. 89: 21-27. [14635]
6. Garrison, George A.; Bjugstad, Ardell J.; Duncan, Don A.; [and others]. 1977. Vegetation and environmental features of forest and range ecosystems. Agric. Handb. 475. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service. 68 p. [998]
7. Gruenhagen, Ned M.; Fredrickson, Leigh H. 1990. Food use by migratory female mallards in northwest Missouri. Journal of Wildlife Management. 54(4): 622-626. [17427]
8. Higgins, Kenneth F. 1986. A comparison of burn season effects on nesting birds in North Dakota mixed-grass prairie. Prairie Naturalist. 18(4): 219-228. [1149]
9. Hodson, N. L. 1965. Mallard's devotion to nest in face of fire. British Birds. 58: 97. [16011]
10. Kuchler, A. W. 1964. United States [Potential natural vegetation of the conterminous United States]. Special Publication No. 36. New York: American Geographical Society. 1:3,168,000; colored. [3455]
11. Leedy, Daniel L. 1950. Ducks continue to nest after brush fire at Castalia, Ohio. Auk. 67: 234. [14637]
12. Madge, Steve; Burn, Hilary. 1988. Waterfowl: An identification guide to the ducks, geese and swans of the world. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Company. 298 p. [20029]
13. Martz, Gerald F. 1967. Effects of nesting cover removal on breeding puddle ducks. Journal of Wildlife Management. 31(2): 236-247. [16284]
14. Moorhead, David J.; Hodges, John D.; Reinecke, Kenneth J. 1991. Silvicultural options for waterfowl management in bottomland hardwood stands and greentree reservoirs. In: Coleman, Sandra S.; Neary, Daniel G., compilers. Proceedings, 6th biennial southern silvicultural research conference: Volume 2; 1990 October 30 - November 1; Memphis, TN. Gen. Tech. Rep. SE-70. Asheville, NC: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Southeastern Forest Experiment Station: 710-721. [17507]
15. Phillips, John C. 1986. A natural history of the ducks. Vols. 1-2. New York: Dover Publications, Inc. 409 p. [21634]
16. Rotella, Jay J.; Ratti, John T. 1992. Mallard brood survival and wetland habitat conditions in southwestern Manitoba. Journal of Wildlife Management. 56(3): 499-507. [19286]
17. Ward, P. 1968. Fire in relation to waterfowl habitat of the delta marshes. In: Proceedings, annual Tall Timbers fire ecology conference; 1968 March 14-15; Tallahassee, FL. No. 8. Tallahassee, FL: Tall Timbers Research Station: 255-267. [18932]
18. Duebbert, Harold F.; Jacobson, Erling T.; Higgins, Kenneth F.; Podoll, Erling B. 1981. Establishment of seeded grasslands for wildlife habitat in the prairie pothole region. Special Scientific Report-Wildlife No. 234. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service. 21 p. [5740]
19. Donohoe, Robert W. 1974. American hornbeam Carpinus caroliniana Walt. In: Gill, John D.; Healy, William M., eds. Shrubs and vines for northeastern wildlife. Gen. Tech. Rep. NE-9. Upper Darby, PA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northeastern Forest Experiment Station: 86-88. [13714]
20. Ball, J. P. 1984. Habitat selection and optimal foraging by mallards: a field experiment. Guelph, ON: University of Guelph. 44 p. Thesis. [18071]