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usually dive for food, but dabble, with their tails in the air and bills under the surface. They are happy both on the land and in the water, and can take off from the water surface with no difficulty.

The familiar "quack" that every child associates with the word "duck" is used by females to call her ducklings to her, and is often heard as a series of calls, almost like a laugh, that gets progressively quieter. Male mallards make much weaker noises that are more like grunts and whistles than quacks.

Mallards are common in the Northern Hemisphere, and have been introduced to Australia and other Southern Hemisphere countries. They are resident throughout the year across the whole of the United Kingdom and Ireland, and in most of the United States, but in other countries they are often migratory, returning each year to the same place to breed.

Nest sites are often a long way from water, with mallards looking for safe places away from predators. The clutch is around nine to twelve eggs, laid between March and July, depending on location. Eggs are usually laid one a day, but incubation does not start until all have been laid, so that they all hatch at the same time. Incubation is only done by the female, and takes around 28 days. When the hen leaves the nest to feed, she hides the eggs from sight by covering them with downy feathers from her belly.

The ducklings, which are brown and yellow, are led by the mother to water, and this is often a long and hazardous journey, during which the mother will do everything she can to protect her brood. They will not return to the nest, but stay close to their mother for about 10 weeks, both on the water and ashore, after which they must fend for themselves.

The large broods are essential for the survival of mallards, for they have many natural predators. In the UK, these include foxes, mink, domestic and feral cats, and, under the surface, pike.

The only real threat to mallard populations is loss of habitat, but they have proved adaptable to urban life in many places. The policy in the UK of allowing some low-lying areas to revert to wetland (as opposed to maintaining expensive coastal defences) will create new sites for mallards and other water birds.

In the English East Midlands we often address each other as "me duck". It's probably mallards that we have in mind!

Learn more about this author, John Welford.
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