, for most of
this group are sure-footed and can walk and run well on land. Their diet
is mostly vegetable, and grain-fed mallards or pintails or
acorn-fattened wood ducks are highly regarded as food.

Mallard

Length--24"
Weight--2-3/4 lbs.

The mallard is our most common duck, found in all flyways. The males are
often called "greenheads." The main wintering area is the lower
Mississippi basin, and along the gulf coast, but many stay as far north
as open waters permits.

Flocks often feed in early morning and late afternoon in nearby
harvested fields, returning to marshes and creeks to spend the night.

The flight is not particularly rapid. Hens have a loud _quack_; the
drake's voice is a low-pitched _kwek-kwek_.

Pintail

Length--26"
Weight--1-3/4 lbs.

These ducks use all four flyways, but are most plentiful in the west.

They are extremely graceful and fast fliers, fond of zig-zagging from
great heights before leveling off to land.

The long neck and tail make them appear longer than mallards, but in
body size and weight they are smaller.

They are agile on land and often feed in grain fields. The drakes
whistle; the hens have a coarse _quack_.

Gadwall

Length--21"
Weight--2 lbs.

Gadwalls are most numerous in the Central Flyway, but not too common
anywhere. They are often called "gray mallards" or "gray ducks." They
are one of the earliest migrants, seldom facing cold weather.

They are the only puddle ducks with a white speculum.

Small, compact flocks fly swiftly, usually in a direct line. Wingbeats
are rapid.

Drakes whistle and _kack-kack_; hens _quack_ like a mallard, but softer.

Wigeon

Length--21"
Weight--1-3/4 lbs.

These are nervous birds, quick to take alarm. Their flight is fast,
irregular, with many twists and turns. In a bunched flock, their
movements have been compared to those of pigeons.

When open water is handy, wigeons often raft up offshore until late
afternoon when they move to marshes and ponds to feed.

The white belly and forewing are very showy in the air. Drakes whistle;
hens have a loud _kaow_ and a lower _qua-awk_.

Shoveler

Length--19-1/2"
Weight--1-1/2 lbs.

Shovelers, 'spoonbills' to many, are early migrants, moving out at the
first frost. The largest numbers are in the Central and Pacific flyways.

The usual flight is steady and direct. When startled, the small flocks
twist and turn in the air like tea