For the last few days our bird feeder has been visited by a Mallard Duck Family. They are at the bird feeder early morning, on and off during the day and evening. They seem more like pets than wild birds as they don't leave or act scared when I go outside to visit them. I've never heard of ducks at a regular feeder. They love sun flower seeds and are constantly eating they seeds that have fallen to the ground from the feeder.

The mallard is the most common duck in North America. They usually hang around lakes, rivers, ponds or other bodies of water. They seem to be residing at our small creek that runs along the property. As you can see it is easy to tell the males from the female mallards. Males have grayish or brownish feathers, a green colored head, and a purple breast. On the other hand, the female is only brown and white and is smaller than the male.

As far as feeding is concerned Mallards are omnivores. They are said to eat various seeds including corn, wheat, barley, bulrushes, wild rice, primrose, willow, seeds of water elm, oak, hackberry, trees of swamps or river bottoms. They will also eat mollusks, insects, small fish, tadpoles, freshwater snails, fish eggs, and frogs. They usually feed at the surface of water and are known as "dabbling ducks". They don't dive all the way under the water, but just tip their heads under to feed.

Notice there is no mention of sunflower seeds in their omnivores repertoire.