Mallard Ducks Aced Audubon Arctic Wall Calendar 2022 as January Birds

Summary: Mallard ducks aced Audubon Arctic Wall Calendar 2022 as January birds in Canadian, Mexican, Unitedstatesian February-September breeding or all-year abodes.

mallard ducks (Anas platyrhynchos) under synonym Anas boschas; males (left, upper; right, upper) and females (left, lower; right, lower); Drawn from Nature by J.J. Audubon, F.R.S., F.L.S.; Engraved, Printed & Coloured by R. Havell, 1834; John James Audubon, The Birds of America, No. 22, Plate CIX: No copyright--United States (NoC--US), via ULS (University of Pittsburgh Library System)

Mallard ducks aced Audubon Arctic Wall Calendar 2022 as January birds in coastal Canadian, coastal and inland Unitedstatesian and inland Mexican all-year abodes and inland Canadian, Mexican and Unitedstatesian February-September breeding abodes.

The Anseriformes (from Latin ānser, “goose” and -fōrmis, “-shaped”) order member breeds in ditches, marshes, ponds, prairie potholes and other fresh-, and shallow-watered, natural, open wetlands. The Anatidae (from Latin anas, “duck” and Greek -ειδής, “-like” via Latin -idæ) family member clusters in considerable-numbered, considerable-sized, different- and same-specied, pre- and post-breeding flocks. Mallard ducks, described by Carl Linnaeus (May 23, 1707-Jan. 10, 1778), dwell in ground-covering vegetation among tall bushes and grasses or on buildings, islets and ruins.

Anas platyrhynchos (from Greek πλατύς, “flat, wide” and ῥύγχος, “beak”) sometimes elect old nests of large birds or raised sites such as tree crotches and holes.

distribution map of mallard duck (Anas platyrhynchos), with neon green=extant, breeding; dark green=extant, resident; blue=extant, non-breeding; fuchsia=extant and vagrant (seasonality uncertain); pink= probably extinct and introduced; brown=extant and introduced (seasonality uncertain); yellow=possibly extant and introduced (seasonality uncertain); after BirdLife International and Handbook of the Birds of the World (2019) Anas platyrhynchos. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2022-2 @ https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/22680186/155457360: Alexander Kürthy (SanoAK), CC BY SA 3.0 Unported, via Wikimedia Commons

Plant debris, grasses and leaves furnish lining fashioned with mallard feathers and pale-centered, pale-tipped brown downy tufts that fit over eggs when mothers-to-be fly after food.

Mallard eggs and nestlings get 4-inch- (10.16-centimeter-) deep nests with 11- to 12-inch (27.94- to 30.48-centimeter) outside and 6- to 7-inch (15.24- to 17.78-centimeter) inside diameters. Mallard nestlings hatch from 7- to 16- or 10- to 12-egg single-, sometimes second-brooded clutches whose last egg-laying heralds mallard mothers-to-be holding 26- to 29-day incubations. The elliptical to sub-elliptical, short, smooth, 2.28-inch- (58-millimeter-) long, 1.61-inch- (41-millimeter-) wide, waxy eggs impart blue greenness, green whiteness or buff-green, green-tinged or near-blue creamy whiteness.

Mallard ducks as February through September newborns, nestlings and fledglings jubilate their parents journeying as Audubon Arctic Wall Calendar 2022 January birds to family raising-friendly junctions.

"Mallard eggs hatching at Clove Valley Club, near Verbank, New York" (page 58); Herbert K. Job, "Game Farming for Pleasure or Profit," Natural History, the Journal of the American Museum, vol. XIX, no. 1 (January 1919), pages 55-62: Not in copyright, via Internet Archive

Eggs hatching within one month kindles precocial (precocious, from Latin praecox, “early-ripened”) hatchlings and nestlings with black-brown upper-sides, buff-yellow undersides, yellow-sided heads and yellow-fronted, yellow-sided necks.

Mallard hatchlings and nestlings lodge yellow-barred wings; yellow-patched sides to their backs and their rumps; blackened brown-olive bills; and brown-gray legs with brown-gray, three-toed, webbed feet. Mallard duck nestlings move almost immediately with their mothers from their birth nests to nearby waters to master diving and swimming motions before maintaining independent lifestyles. Maximum 29-year life-cycle expectancies necessitate mallard ducklings needing to navigate their dependent nestlingness within 7 to 8 weeks and to number among fledged, independent juvenile mallards.

Mallard ducks occur as Audubon Arctic Wall Calendar 2022 January birds even as they obtain fast-, regular- and shallow-oriented flights as full-fledged birds May through December.

"A Mallard Hen Keeping her Ducklings Close" in Benton Lake National Wildlife Refuge (Benton Lake NWR), Cascade County, central Montana; photo credit, Neil Mishler/USFWS; Saturday, June 30, 2007, 01:08: USFWS Mountain-Prairie, CC BY 2.0 Generic, via Wikimedia Commons

Mallard mating-season palates prioritize crustaceans, earthworms, insects and mollusks even as juvenile and mature mallard ducks otherwise pursue acorns, agricultural crops, aquatic vegetation, bread and seeds.

Physically and sexually mature female mallard ducks quarter black-patched orange bills; dark caps and eye-lines; brown-yellow backs; mottled-brown bellies; brown underparts; and round-, short-, white-feathered outer-tails. Breeding physiology renders olive-yellow-billed, gray-headed, rusty-under-sided summer males from gray-bodied, chestnut-brown-breasted wintering males with yellowest bills; narrow-, white-collared necks; blue-patched, broad-based wings; and black-curled white tails. Mature mallard ducks secure 19.5- to 26-inch- (50- to 65-centimeter-) long, 1.88- to 3-pound (0.9- to 1.4-kilogram) bodies with 32- to 37-inch (82- to 95-centimeter) wingspans.

Mallard ducks as Audubon Arctic Wall Calendar 2022 January birds transmit high-pitched, whistled courtship calls by quiet, raspy raab-calling males to isolated and serialized quack-calling females.

female (left) and male (right) mallard ducks in Salem, northwestern Oregon; Wednesday, April 2, 2008, 16:59:09, photo by Kathy Munsel, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife: Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

mallard ducks (Anas platyrhynchos) under synonym Anas boschas; males (left, upper; right, upper) and females (left, lower; right, lower); Drawn from Nature by J.J. Audubon, F.R.S., F.L.S.; Engraved, Printed & Coloured by R. Havell, 1834; John James Audubon, The Birds of America, No. 22, Plate CIX: No copyright--United States (NoC--US), via ULS (University of Pittsburgh Library System) @ https://digital.library.pitt.edu/islandora/object/pitt%3Aaud0221; Birds of America, vol. VI (1843), No. 77, Plate 385, opposite page 236, Not in copyright, via Biodiversity Heritage Library @ https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/40392795; Biodiversity Heritage Library (BioDivLibrary), Public Domain, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/61021753@N02/8592737760/

distribution map of mallard duck (Anas platyrhynchos), with neon green=extant, breeding; dark green=extant, resident; blue=extant, non-breeding; fuchsia=extant and vagrant (seasonality uncertain); pink= probably extinct and introduced; brown=extant and introduced (seasonality uncertain); yellow=possibly extant and introduced (seasonality uncertain); after BirdLife International and Handbook of the Birds of the World (2019) Anas platyrhynchos. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2022-2 @ https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/22680186/155457360: Alexander Kürthy (SanoAK), CC BY SA 3.0 Unported, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:AnasPlatyrhynchosIUCN2019_2.png

"Mallard eggs hatching at Clove Valley Club, near Verbank, New York" (page 58); Herbert K. Job, "Game Farming for Pleasure or Profit," Natural History, the Journal of the American Museum, vol. XIX, no. 1 (January 1919), pages 55-62: Not in copyright, via Internet Archive @ https://archive.org/details/americanmuseumjo18amer/page/58/mode/1up; Internet Archive Book Images, Public Domain, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/internetarchivebookimages/17537914024/; Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_American_Museum_journal_(c1900-(1918))_(17537914024).jpg

"A Mallard Hen Keeping her Ducklings Close" in Benton Lake National Wildlife Refuge (Benton Lake NWR), Cascade County, central Montana; photo credit, Neil Mishler/USFWS; Saturday, June 30, 2007, 01:08: USFWS Mountain-Prairie, CC BY 2.0 Generic, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:A_Mallard_Hen_Keeping_her_Ducklings_Close_(8600075663).jpg; USFWS Mountain-Prairie (USFWS Mountain Prairie), CC BY 2.0 Generic, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/usfwsmtnprairie/8600075663/

female (left) and male (right) mallard ducks in Salem, northwestern Oregon; Wednesday, April 2, 2008, 16:59:09, photo by Kathy Munsel, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife: Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:1094_mallard_pair_munsel_odfw_(4405332600).jpg; Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife, Public Domain, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/odfw/4405332600/

For further information:

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Cleary, Margot Keam. 1991. "Mallard." Pages 62-63. In: John James Audubon. New York NY: Crescent Books.

Howell, Catherine Herbert (Writer); and Mary B. Dickinson (Editor). 1999. "Mallard Anas platyrhynchos." Pages 76-77. Field Guide to the Birds of North America. Third Edition. Washington DC: National Geographic Society.

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Kiser, Joy M. 2012. "Plate LXII. Fig. 4. Anas Bpscas - Mallard (a.k.a. Green-head) Anax platyrhynchos - Mallard. Illustrated by Howard Jones." Page 150. In: America's Other Audubon. New York NY: Princeton Architectural Press.

Kobasa, Paul A. (Editor-in-Chief). 2007. "Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos)." Page 75. Birds of the United States and Canada. Third printing, November 2009. Chicago IL: World Book, Inc.

Linnaeus, C. 1758. "(Aves Anseres. Anas.) platyrhynchos. 17." Page 125. In: Systema Naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis. Editio Decima, Reformata. Tomus I. Holmiæ (Stockholm): impensis direct. Laurentii Salvii.
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Marriner, Derdriu. 1 January 2023. "Red Foxes Are January Wildlife on Audubon Arctic Wall Calendar 2023." Earth and Space News. Sunday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2023/01/red-foxes-are-january-wildlife-on.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 3 December 2022. "Dark-Eyed Juncos Are December Birds on the 2022 Audubon Calendar." Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2022/12/dark-eyed-juncos-are-december-birds-on.html

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Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2022/10/barred-owls-are-october-birds-on-2022.html

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Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2022/09/brown-pelicans-are-september-birds-on.html

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Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2022/08/allens-hummingbirds-are-august-birds-on.html

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Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2022/07/reddish-egrets-are-july-birds-on-2022.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 4 June 2022. "American Oystercatchers Are June Birds on the 2022 Audubon Calendar." Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2022/06/american-oystercatchers-are-june-birds.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 5 May 2022. "Rose-Breasted Grosbeaks Are May Birds on the 2022 Audubon Calendar." Earth and Space News. Sunday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2022/05/rose-breasted-grosbeaks-are-may-birds.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 10 April 2022. "Crested Caracaras Appear as April Birds on the 2022 Audubon Calendar." Earth and Space News. Sunday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2022/04/crested-caracaras-appear-as-april-birds.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 19 March 2022. "Cerulean Warblers Are March Birds on the 2022 Audubon Calendar." Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2022/03/cerulean-warblers-are-march-birds-on.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 5 February 2022. "Northern Bobwhites Are February Birds on the 2022 Audubon Calendar." Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2022/02/northern-bobwhites-are-february-birds.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 1 January 2022. "Florida Scrub-Jays Are January Birds on the 2022 Audubon Calendar." Earth and Space News. Saturday.
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