The mallard is the most common and best known duck in the world. It is found in Europe, North Africa, Asia and in temperate and subtropical America. It has also been introduced in South Africa, Australia and New Zealand and in parts of South America.

In Maltese the mallard is known as kuluvert, a corruption of the Italian collo verde (green neck). The English name is probably derived from old French, mallart or mallart (wild drake).

Mallards can be seen migrating over the Maltese islands in small flocks, mostly between October and January, but their number varies from one year to the next, depending on the weather in the rest of Europe. They usually migrate in significant numbers when the weather in their breeding grounds becomes freezing cold.

When they are in breeding plumage the male birds are unmistakable with their glossy green head and grey on wings and belly. Females keep their brown-speckled plumage throughout the year. Both sexes have a patch of white-bordered black feathers on the wing, known as a speculum, which can be used to tell the female mallard and the male – when it is not in breeding plumage – from other ducks.

Mallards form pairs as early as October and can be seen swimming and flying in pairs throughout autumn and winter. They breed in late winter or early spring but as soon as the female lays her eggs the couple splits up, leaving the care of the ducklings solely to the female.

Mallards are wetland ducks that feed on aquatic vegetation and small animals. They tend to live in close quarters together and sometimes form large noisy flocks. They owe their success to their ability to live in modified habitats. They are common in city ponds and parks and can become very tame.

Most domestic ducks originated from mallards. Occasionally they breed with other species of duck and produce fertile offspring. This shows that the mallard evolved rapidly during the Late Pleistocene (late Ice Age) which started 126,000 years ago.

portelli.paul@gmail.com