mallard Anas platyrhynchos, a wild duck which may fairly claim to be the most important of its kind, given its circumglobal range in cold and temperate zones of the northern hemisphere, the fact that it is the ancestor of most domesticated ducks in Europe, and its good eating qualities. Indeed, the term ‘wild duck’ is an alternative name for it.
It is a surface-feeder, quite large (average total length nudging 60 cm/24"), and highly adaptable; it is at home in almost any wet lowland countryside, in urban and suburban environments, and in marine areas outside the breeding season.
