This is the quintessential duck (Anas platyrhynchos): the one that quacks and has water roll off its back, and inhabits numerous park and village ponds. It is the most widespread and abundant of all waterfowl and despite being hunted in its millions each year it continues to thrive. It is the female that quacks, usually to call her young to her, and the familiar sound travels many kilometres. Mallards winter in the warmer south and travel north in the spring to breed. Their arrival time for breeding depends on the average air temperatures during the trip - the warmer, the earlier - hence the regard in which country folk and hunters told them as harbingers of good and bad weather. The mallard eats a wide variety of food: the bread thrown by countless park visitors is probably a staple for some.
