The folks at 10,000 Birds have coined a clever name for non-traditional mallards – “Manky Mallards.” I’ve seen quite a few manky mallards myself. We’ll start with traditional Mallard Ducks so you have a frame of reference. Below is a male Mallard Duck:
and here’s the female:
some mallards generally match the plumage, but have some white on their front
and others have splotches all over
others don’t even have green feathers!
Manky Mallards will trick a novice birder at first into thinking they’ve found a really rare bird. But alas, these Manky Mallards are the progeny of escaped domestic Mallards that were bred for food.
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This one doesn’t even have a yellow beak, but the shape of it is the same.
This guy is my favorite because he has an eyebrow.
The pale ducks like the one above were specifically bred to have apricot coloring. This shading is referred to as “leucistic.” So when you go to local ponds, you should enjoy the variation!