Mallard
Anas platyrhynchos
Gråanden er en svømmeand, der er en almindelig ynglefugl i Danmark og mange andre steder på den nordlige halvkugle, hvor den lever i vådområder som byernes parker, og ofte optræder i flok. Gråanden er stamform til de fleste typer af tamænder, og den opdrættes i stort tal for at blive udsat i naturen før jagtsæsonen eller for at blive slagtet.
Our commonest , 50–60 cm. The drake has a glossy bottle-green head, a white neck ring, a purple-brown breast and a yellowish-orange bill with a black tip. Both sexes show a blue-violet speculum edged white, visible both in flight and at rest.
Plumage and variation
Male and female: The female is mottled brown with buff cheeks, supercilium, throat and neck against a darker crown and eye-stripe; the bill ranges from black to mottled orange and brown.
Summer and winter: The drake enters eclipse plumage after breeding and then resembles the female.
Juvenile: Juvenile resembles the female but is more heavily streaked.
Voice
It is the female that has the "quack" associated with ducks, often in runs of 2–10; the drake’s is deeper and quieter.
Behaviour
Feeds by dabbling at the surface or upending — it does not dive — and also grazes on land. Highly gregarious outside the breeding season and notably at home in town parks and ponds.
When and where
A year-round resident throughout Denmark, joined in winter by visitors from Scandinavia.
Facts
Wingspan
88 cm
Conservation status
ikke truet
Relatives
Family
ducks, geese and swans
Anatidae
Order
waterfowl
Anseriformes
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