---
title: "Mallard"
description: "Anas platyrhynchos — Birds. The mallard () or wild duck (Anas platyrhynchos) is a dabbling duck that breeds throughout the temperate and subtropical Americas, Eurasia, and North Africa."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/animal/mallard
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# Mallard

> Anas platyrhynchos — Birds. The mallard () or wild duck (Anas platyrhynchos) is a dabbling duck that breeds throughout the temperate and subtropical Americas, Eurasia, and North Africa.

- Scientific name: *Anas platyrhynchos*
- Category: `birds` (Birds)
- Habitats: `freshwater` (Lakes & rivers), `urban` (Towns & gardens)
- iNaturalist observations: 961474
- Wikidata: [Q25348](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q25348)
- iNaturalist taxon: [6930](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/6930)

## Names

- en: Mallard
- de: Stockente
- es: Ánade azulón
- fr: Canard colvert
- nl: Wilde eend
- pt: Pato-real
- pl: Krzyżówka

## Summary

The mallard () or wild duck (Anas platyrhynchos) is a dabbling duck that breeds throughout the temperate and subtropical Americas, Eurasia, and North Africa. It has been introduced to New Zealand, Australia, Peru, Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina, Chile, Colombia, the Falkland Islands, and South Africa. Belonging to the subfamily Anatinae of the waterfowl family Anatidae, mallards live in wetlands, eat water plants and small animals, and are social animals preferring to congregate in groups or flocks of varying sizes.
Males (drakes) have green heads, while the females (ducks) have mainly brown-speckled plumage. Both sexes…

Text: Wikipedia (en), CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mallard

## Photo

![Mallard](https://animalchecklist.com/img/animals/mallard/medium.jpg)

Photo: Diego Carús · CC0 · inaturalist — https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/21203884

## Machine access

`GET https://animalchecklist.com/api/v1/animals/mallard?lang=en` — see [openapi.json](https://animalchecklist.com/openapi.json).