Young country diary: Total eclipse of the duck | Elizabeth

Essex: At first we wondered where the usual mallards were in our local pond - it was as if they had disappeared My little sister and I love to go and feed the ducks in our local pond. We especially love to see the ducklings, their fuzzy little bodies taking one tentative step at a time. Their adorable, big, black eyes glinting in the sunlight, with their protective mother duck watchfully standing close by.As they were waddling around, I noticed something different about the drake mallards. Their usual brilliant jade green necks were dull and spotted with brown speckles. They looked more similar to a female duck. At first, I thought they were muddy or ill. Eager to discover the reasons behind this, I learned that they were in fact moulting their feathers! This transformation is called the "eclipse plumage"; it often occurs in summer, when the males can lose their flight feathers all at once so they can replace them. Although this also means they're unable to fly and predators are more perilous. Continue reading...