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The familiar wild duck — the drake's bottle-green head and yellow bill are unmistakable.

How to spot it

A large dabbling duck about 50–65 cm. The drake has a glossy bottle-green head, a white neck-ring, a chestnut breast and a yellow bill; the female is mottled brown. Both show a blue wing patch edged with white.

Where it lives

The most familiar wild duck across the Northern Hemisphere, on almost any fresh water — ponds, lakes, rivers and town parks — and introduced widely elsewhere. It is the ancestor of most domestic ducks.

What it eats

An omnivore that up-ends to reach water plants and takes seeds, insects, snails and grain; park birds readily take scraps.

Song & behaviour

The loud, descending "quack" everyone knows is the female's; the drake gives only a quiet, rasping note. Pairs form in winter, and courting groups are noisy and boisterous.

Nesting

The female nests on the ground near water in a down-lined hollow, and leads the ducklings to water within a day of hatching.

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