The purpose of our research was to observe mallard ducks and compare the behaviors of male and female ducks. The compared behaviors observed were: sitting, swimming, drinking, eating, preening, walking, flying, washing, stretching, making noise. These are easily recognized behaviors that are observed most often. Also observed were the time spent performing each behavior and the transitions from one behavior to another.

INTRODUCTION

The species of duck observed was the Anas platyrhynchos platyrhynchos, or the common mallard (1). The mallard is a typical dabbling duck, which means it feeds mainly on water plants, which they obtain by tipping upside down in the shallow water. They often forage near the shore for seeds and insects. The bill is flat and broad. Dabbling ducks float high on the water and are swift fliers. They usually fly in flocks and are strongly migratory (2). Males are called drakes and females are called hens. The drakes are often called Greenheads because of their iridescent green plumage on the head. Hens are not as colorful, mostly mottled brown and black (3). Mallard can be found almost anywhere in the world. They dominate the Northern hemisphere, and can be found easily in Oceana, Asia, Africa, South America and many islands during the winter months (4,5). Most often, the preferred habitat is wetlands, where highly productive waters produce large amounts of floating, emergent and submerged vegetation. Wetlands also produce a great deal of aquatic invertebrates on which mallard feed (4). Flocks will often feed in early morning and late afternoon in nearby harvested fields, returning to marshes and creeks to spend the night (6). The familiar "quack" of ducks is from the female mallard, called the "decrescendo call", and can be heard for miles. A female will give the call when she wants to bring other ducks to her, such as her ducklings (4). The preening of ducks is part cleaning and to cover their feathers with oil to make them waterproof (7). Ducks do not have teeth. They have gizzards to grind food with the help of small pebbles swallowed by ducks (7).

METHODS

We observed the ducks by videotaping them at different times of the day. We videotaped in the morning, midday (around noon), and afternoon (usually around 4 pm). The videos were then view with a stopwatch and behaviors and times were recorded for one duck at a time. Times in seconds were counted for each behavior and percentages were calculated for each behavior, both males and females. A transition matrix was constructed for both groups and percentages were calculated for each transition from one behavior to the next. All the data was put together for the ethograms for both groups.

RESULTS

The calculated percentages of the behaviors for both groups are listed below.

 The transition matrix data follows:

 The data was put together to form the ethograms for both males and females:

CONCLUSION

From observing the ducks we found that although their behavior was similar, there were a few differences. From our observations:

• females sat 6% more than males
• males preened 6% more than females
• males made noise and females did not
• males ate twice as much as females did
• males went from washing to stretching most, while females went from washing to swimming and preening equally
• males went from walking to preening most often, while females went from walking to preening and drinking equally
• males went from sitting to preening most, while females went from sitting to swimming most.

 REFERENCES