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Anas Platyrhynchos


Anas Platyrhynchos
Photo Information
Copyright: Philip Erche (netfalls) Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 1752 W: 153 N: 2457] (9276)
Genre: Animals
Medium: Color
Date Taken: 2006-01-16
Categories: Birds
Camera: Canon 350D, Canon EF 70-200mm f4 L USM, Digital RAW 800
Exposure: f/10.0, 1/1000 seconds
Details: (Fill) Flash: Yes
More Photo Info: [view]
Photo Version: Original Version
Date Submitted: 2006-01-16 8:34
Viewed: 1755
Points: 51
[Note Guidelines] Photographer's Note
Anas Platyrhynchos

Geographic Range:
Mallards can be found almost anywhere in the world. They dominate the Northern Hemisphere, and can be found easly in Oceana, Asia, Africa, South America and many islands
Habitat:
Most often, they prefer 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 mallards feed.

Physical Description:
The mallard is undoubtably the most recognized waterfowl in the world. The familiar duck morphology is complemented with a iridesent blue speculum on the wings in both sexes. On the male, the notable characteristics are the green iridesent plumage on the head and neck, and curled black feathers on the tail. The female's plumage is drab brown.

Reproduction:
Most mallard hens breed as yearlings, but they may not have much success; studies show that older hens have much lower duckling mortality than yearlings. Pair bonding starts as early as October and continues through March. Mallard males leave the hen soon after mating occurs. The hen usually lays 9 -13 eggs in a nest on the ground near a body of water. When the ducklings hatch after 26-28 days, the hen leads them to water and does not return to the nest.


Behavior:
After the breeding season, mallards form flocks and migrate from northern lattitudes to warmer southern areas. There they wait and feed until the breeding season starts again. Some mallards, however, may choose to stay through the winter in areas where food and shelter are abundant; these mallards make up a resident populations.

The familiar "quack" of ducks is from the female mallard--it is named 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, and as a result it is also known as the "hail call".

Food Habits:
Mallards consume a wide variety of foods, including vegetation, insects, worms, gastropods and arthropods, although they are not restricted to these. They also take advantage of human food sources, such as gleaning grain from crops.

Conservation Status:
Mallards are the most abundant and widespread of all waterfowl; every year millions are harvested by hunters with little effect on their numbers.
Infos from Wikipedia
cosci, dew77, marhowie, red45, christiangrosch, gerhardt, Libor, wallhalla15, Janice, chouette, hummingbird24, Toni, Luc, Tommysugar, marjan has marked this note useful
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Discussions
ThreadThread Starter Messages Updated
To cosci: added background?netfalls 1 01-16 09:02
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Critiques [Translate]

Excellent capture on the wing - great lighting and timing. TFS

  • Good 
  • cosci Silver Star Critiquer/Silver Workshop Editor [C: 14 W: 15 N: 3] (110)
  • [2006-01-16 8:59]
  • [+]

Great photo Philip ...
Very dinamic but with sharp and clear details.
But I think that the light on the added background is not correlated with the image of the mallard .

  • Great 
  • dew77 Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 5171 W: 297 N: 4050] (13069)
  • [2006-01-16 9:16]

Hello Phlip!
Wonderful action shot.POV,vivid colors,
moment you caught,details,simple BG
and composition are excellent.TFS...:-)

This is an excellent inflight Philip & well composed. Fantastic POV as the mallard seems to be comin' straight at you..Excellent sharpness, detail, DOF, color and exposure. Very well done. Thank You!

  • Great 
  • red45 Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 2828 W: 75 N: 8009] (26813)
  • [2006-01-16 9:27]

Attack of psycho duck ;-))) Well done Philip! Your favourite animal in different yet excellent POV today. Almost eagle ;-)

Hi Philip!

Wonderful shot!
Very difficult to make!
Congratulations!

TFS,
Chris

Hello Philip
Sorry, no time for a decent critique today, but I like the picture very much :)

//Extraordinary capture mostly becuase of the ducks pose//

  • Great 
  • manyee Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 3069 W: 231 N: 5859] (19702)
  • [2006-01-16 12:05]

What a shot, Philip. Talk about a duck attack!
Great POV with sharp details of a bird in flight.
Very funny and unusual perspective. : )
Great work and TFS. : )

bonjour philip
une tres belle photo ,prendre un oiseau en vol n'est vraiment pas facile,bravo.
laurent

Hi Philip,
hahaha, a wonderful pose, looks a little funny.
But excellent work and I love your POV in front of this flying dug.
Thanks and bye
Sabine - wishnugaruda

Its an unreal look, Phillip. Very funny pose. Great DOF and pose. Very well done.

  • Great 
  • chiliu Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 1552 W: 0 N: 1165] (6442)
  • [2006-01-16 14:28]

Hi Philip.
Superb pose and POV, excellent lighting,
great colour and nice framing.
Thanks for sharing!

  • Great 
  • Libor Gold Star Critiquer/Silver Note Writer [C: 178 W: 1 N: 26] (1104)
  • [2006-01-16 14:47]

:o) excellent capture
nice unusually pose
Well done

Hi Philip,
Good detail, colours and sharpness.
Composition and exposure are good. Good POV and framing.
Thanks for posting, Have a great week.

Hi Philip,
pose is excellent, great work. Very good sharpness, details, colours and composition. Thanks for sharing.

Hi Philip,
I love the capture, the details and the warm colour of the duck.
Good choise for cropping!
TFS - Shir

  • Great 
  • odin Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 196 W: 1 N: 213] (1143)
  • [2006-01-16 17:13]

Big close-up of this mallard. The picture is very sharp and the colors are very good. Well Done
Sébastien

  • Great 
  • Janice Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 3446 W: 144 N: 5883] (17434)
  • [2006-01-16 19:17]

SUPERB! What a fantastic shot of this bird -
great action pose! I love the shape of the shoulders and legs. well done Philip, and TFS. : )
Janice

Very nice in flight capture Philip! The light, sharpness, DOF and POV are excellents. Well done! Thanks for sharing!

Awesome perspective on this fantastic inflight catch the wings are symetrical almost angel like. Well exposed with great lighting. :)

An amazing and unusual shot of this duck Philip!

Not an easy job getting an inflight from this POV, you have done so beautifully.

Details, colors, exposure are wonderful.

Congratulations, and thank you!

  • Great 
  • Toni Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 403 W: 2 N: 316] (2034)
  • [2006-01-17 13:31]

Hi Philip
Did you get attacked there ?
What an unusual and funny pose. Great light and details and nice colour of the feet. I like the BG which looks pretty textured and helps the duck stand out.
Regards Toni

  • Great 
  • Luc Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 2058 W: 315 N: 4404] (14713)
  • [2006-01-17 23:14]

Excellent.
Thank you, Philip.
Sorry, I have no time thase days to write complete comments.

"Whatever happiness is in the world
has arisen from a wish for the welfare of others;
whatever misery there is has arisen from indulging selfishness."
~ Buddhist Proverb ~

Fantastic this shot! Is perfectly visible the way of movment of the wings!
Good work, bye Tom

Great shot.
Very nice, this is beautifully composed and presented. Good sharpness and beautiful colors.

Hi Phil, extra good shot. Wonderful moment and very strang POV. Good quality and explanation.
Marjan

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