It looks for food at the water’s surface or by leaning forward into the water, and sometimes feeds on land. It eats aquatic plants, algae and seeds. It also eats small aquatic animals and animals without backbones, including simple kinds of crustaceans and soft-bodied animals. In parks, it also takes bread from people, though bread is not part of its natural diet and is not good for it.
Mallard
Anas platyrhynchos
Listen to the voice
Donsky · Lisi LakeGeorgia field photo
A dabbling duck of open water and wetlands. Present in Georgia all year: it breeds on the shallow highland lakes of the Javakheti Plateau and also occurs on lowland wetlands and city ponds in winter. Harmless to people.
Key facts in one look
- Size
- 50–65 cm
- Diet
- Plants and small aquatic animals
- Status in Georgia
- Resident, migrant, winter visitor
- Habitat
- Lakes, wetlands, rivers, parks
- Elevation
- Sea level to 2,100 m
- Family
- Anatidae
- Conservation
- Global LC
The mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) is a medium-sized bird in the duck family (Anatidae) that feeds at the water’s surface. It is the wild duck most often seen in Georgia. According to 2024 records, it nests in Georgia and lives there year-round; it is also seen during migration and in winter. This is supported by photographs, records from rings fitted to birds, and specimens collected during hunting. Adults are 50–65 cm long. During the nesting season, the male has a glossy green head and a yellow bill, while the female has mottled brown feathers. Both have a blue-purple patch with white edges on their wings. Its main nesting area is the Javakheti Plateau, where about 90% of Georgia’s nesting waterbirds breed. In winter, when the lakes there freeze, it is also found in lowland marshes and city ponds. It poses no danger to people. Globally, its risk of extinction is low. It is not on Georgia’s 2014 Red List, but hunting it is permitted under established rules.
Identification
How to identify Mallard
This medium-sized duck feeds at the water’s surface. During the breeding season, the male has a glossy green head, a white ring around its neck, a chestnut-colored breast and a yellow bill. Females and males that have lost their bright coloring after breeding are mottled brown. Their bills have orange and dark coloring. Both males and females have a blue-purple patch on each wing with a white border. In Georgia, it is often confused with other brown ducks and domestic ducks in parks.
Length is about 50–65 cm, and wingspan is often 81–98 cm. Weight figures vary: 0.7–1.6 kg or 0.8–2 kg. During the nesting season, the male has a bottle-green head, a narrow white band around the neck, a purple-brown breast, a grey body, a black rear and a yellow bill. The middle tail feathers are curled. The female is mottled brown and blends into her surroundings. The top of her head and the stripe by her eye are darker, and her bill has both orange and dark colouring. Both have orange legs. Part of the wing feathers forms a shiny blue-purple patch edged in white. It shows clearly in flight and often when the wings are folded.
Young ducks resemble females. After nesting, the males’ feathers change colour. For several weeks, they are brown and look like females. Their yellow bills and, when visible, a distinctive patch on the wing still help identify them. Domestic and partly wild ducks may be white, black, mottled or larger than usual. They belong to the same species and breed freely with wild ducks of that species.
The Eurasian teal (Anas crecca) is much smaller. The male has a green and chestnut pattern on its head. The northern pintail (Anas acuta) has a longer neck, and the male has a tail pointed like a needle. The male gadwall (Mareca strepera) is gray, with a black rear and a white patch on its wing. Its head is not green. The northern shoveler (Spatula clypeata) has a very large, shovel-shaped bill. Diving ducks (Aythya) float lower in the water and dive. They do not tip forward to feed as mallards do.
Identifying these birds matters because protected species can be found on the same waters. The 2014 Red List includes the ruddy shelduck (Tadorna ferruginea), marbled teal (Marmaronetta angustirostris), velvet scoter (Melanitta fusca), white-headed duck (Oxyura leucocephala) and lesser white-fronted goose (Anser erythropus). Hunting them is prohibited year-round. The common pochard (Aythya ferina) is on the list of species that may be hunted, although it is assessed as facing a risk of extinction worldwide.
It is harmless. In spring in Georgia, a green-headed, yellow-billed duck on open water is almost always this species. A mottled brown duck with a blue wing patch edged in white is usually a female mallard, a male mallard with temporarily duller plumage, or a related duck that feeds at the water’s surface. Check its size and bill shape to tell them apart.
It favors open, shallow water: lakes, reservoirs, slow-flowing rivers, marshes, flooded fields and city ponds. It takes food from the water’s surface or tips forward into the water to reach it; it does not dive deep for food. It also looks for food on land. In Georgia, it is found up to about 2,100 meters above sea level. Its main nesting areas are the shallow lakes of the volcanic Javakheti Plateau: Madatapa, Bugdasheni, Khanchali, Saghamo, Paravani and Kartsakhi (Samtskhe–Javakheti). Madatapa lies 2,100 meters above sea level. It covers 8.78 km² and is only 1.8 meters deep at its deepest point. This shallow water suits ducks that look for food near the surface. A 2013 estimate put the total number of nesting pairs of five duck species (Spatula clypeata, Anas platyrhynchos, Spatula querquedula, Mareca strepera and Aythya ferina) at Madatapa at 100–150. Madatapa freezes in winter, so the birds move down to the lowlands. In the marshes of the Kolkheti Lowland, an average of about 50,000 ducks are counted in midwinter. That figure covers several species. In Georgia, mallards have been seen and photographed at the following places: in Tbilisi, Lisi Lake, Turtle Lake, the Tbilisi Sea and the pond in Vake Park; in Kvemo Kartli, Kumisi Reservoir, the Gardabani area, Rustavi and Jandari Lake; in Adjara, Batumi, the Chorokhi Delta and Gonio; in Shida Kartli, Nadarbazevi Lake; in Mtskheta-Mtianeti, Bazaleti Lake and Kazbegi Municipality; in Kakheti, Lopota Lake and the municipalities of Sagarejo and Sighnaghi; and in Abkhazia, Gagra, Bichvinta, Gudauta and Sokhumi.Read moreShow less
It favors open, shallow water: lakes, reservoirs, slow-flowing rivers, marshes, flooded fields and city ponds. It takes food from the water’s surface or tips forward into the water to reach it; it does not dive deep for food. It also looks for food on land. In Georgia, it is found up to about 2,100 meters above sea level. Its main nesting areas are the shallow lakes of the volcanic Javakheti Plateau: Madatapa, Bugdasheni, Khanchali, Saghamo, Paravani and Kartsakhi (Samtskhe–Javakheti). Madatapa lies 2,100 meters above sea level. It covers 8.78 km² and is only 1.8 meters deep at its deepest point. This shallow water suits ducks that look for food near the surface. A 2013 estimate put the total number of nesting pairs of five duck species (Spatula clypeata, Anas platyrhynchos, Spatula querquedula, Mareca strepera and Aythya ferina) at Madatapa at 100–150. Madatapa freezes in winter, so the birds move down to the lowlands. In the marshes of the Kolkheti Lowland, an average of about 50,000 ducks are counted in midwinter. That figure covers several species. In Georgia, mallards have been seen and photographed at the following places: in Tbilisi, Lisi Lake, Turtle Lake, the Tbilisi Sea and the pond in Vake Park; in Kvemo Kartli, Kumisi Reservoir, the Gardabani area, Rustavi and Jandari Lake; in Adjara, Batumi, the Chorokhi Delta and Gonio; in Shida Kartli, Nadarbazevi Lake; in Mtskheta-Mtianeti, Bazaleti Lake and Kazbegi Municipality; in Kakheti, Lopota Lake and the municipalities of Sagarejo and Sighnaghi; and in Abkhazia, Gagra, Bichvinta, Gudauta and Sokhumi.
Distribution confirmedfield records
Recorded only · 1
The mallard map combines Reptiles.ge editorial photo records with public iNaturalist observations. Source-confirmed regions and individual field records are separate layers, and record counts reflect observation effort rather than population density.
Data: Reptiles.ge + iNaturalist · Methodology
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- Field observation
- Several records in one spot
- Photo record
- Source-confirmed region
It is active during the day and often gathers in loose groups outside the nesting season. It flies fast and straight, beating its wings rapidly. In flight, the blue-violet patch on its wing, edged in white, is most noticeable. The female’s loud quack is the familiar sound of a duck, while the male makes softer, hoarser calls. The recording of a male on this page — xeno-canto XC1094846 — was made by Petter Westberg in Buseri, Halland, Sweden. It was not recorded in Georgia. It nests on the ground near water, among grass and reeds. In Georgia, it has also rarely been reported nesting in trees and on house roofs in cities. According to one account, the female lays 7–11 eggs in April, and the ducklings hatch after 26 days. Accounts covering a wider area give 8–13 eggs and 26–28 days until hatching. Only the female sits on the eggs and cares for the ducklings after they hatch. The ducklings soon leave the nest. From late August to October, ducks that nest around the lakes of Javakheti gather in large groups to replace their feathers. Migrating ducks that nest elsewhere join them. During a 2022 count at six lakes in Javakheti, at least 39,000 waterbirds were counted. Their numbers rose from late August to the second half of October, then fell by late November. The mallard was among the most numerous species counted separately. After nesting, males change feather colour and resemble females for several weeks.
A 2025 global assessment rated the wild duck’s risk of extinction as low. A 2024 Georgian list also rated its risk of disappearing from Georgia as low, but this national assessment has not yet been approved. It is not included in the 2014 Red List currently in force (Decree No. 190). According to a 2026 notice, wild duck hunting is permitted from September 10 to December 31 in the municipalities of Akhalkalaki, Ninotsminda, Tsalka and Dmanisi (a daily limit of 5 ducks), and from November 1 to March 1 elsewhere (a daily limit of 6 ducks). Hunting is prohibited in state nature reserves and within 500 meters of them, in national parks and within 250 meters of them, and within city limits. Check the current rules before hunting. Studies conducted in Georgia have found bird flu viruses in ducks. A 2022–2023 study at Madatapa examined several species of wild and domestic ducks, so its results cannot tell us what proportion of ducks of this species, or of all ducks in Georgia, had these viruses.
12 photos · 4 photographersView all photos
Donsky · Tbilisi
Donsky · Lisi Lake
Donsky · Tbilisi
Donsky · Tbilisi
Related guides
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Yes. According to 2024 data, mallards live and breed in Georgia year-round. They are also seen here during migration, and some spend the winter here. In 2022, the total number of waterbirds at the Javakheti lakes rose between late August and the second half of October. The count included all waterbirds, not just mallards. In winter, high mountain lakes freeze, and ducks are also found in lowlands.
It is easiest to see at Tbilisi’s bodies of water: Lake Lisi, Turtle Lake, Tbilisi Sea and the pond in Vake Park. Its main nesting sites are the lakes of Javakheti (Madatapa, Bugdasheni, Khanchali, Saghamo, Paravani and Kartsakhi). In winter, it is found mainly in the wetlands of the Colchis Lowland. It has also been photographed at Kumisi Reservoir, Lake Jandari, Batumi, the Chorokhi Delta, Lakes Bazaleti and Nadarbazevi, Lopota and the coast of Abkhazia.
During the nesting season, the male has a green head, yellow bill, white neck ring and chestnut-brown breast. The female is mottled brown, with orange and dark areas on her bill. Both have a blue-purple patch edged in white on their wings. You can tell this duck apart from smaller ducks and broad-billed ducks by its size and bill shape.
It is about 50–65 cm long, with a wingspan of 81–98 cm. Reported weights differ: some sources give 0.7–1.6 kg, while others give 0.8–2 kg.
It eats water plants and seeds, as well as animals without backbones, including animals related to crabs and soft-bodied animals. It looks for food on the water’s surface or tips forward into the water to reach it. Sometimes it also looks for food on land.
About 90% of the waterbirds that breed in Georgia nest on the Javakheti Plateau. At Madatapa, the number of breeding pairs across five duck species, including mallards, was estimated at 100–150.
Yes, there are rules for hunting this species. In the municipalities of Akhalkalaki, Ninotsminda, Tsalka and Dmanisi, the 2026 hunting season runs from September 10 to December 31, with a limit of five per day. Elsewhere, the season runs from November 1 to March 1, with a limit of six per day. Hunting is prohibited in state nature reserves and within 500 metres of them, in national parks and within 250 metres of them, and in cities. Check the current rules before hunting.
It is not listed in the 2014 Red List. It has an LC assessment worldwide, while the national LC assessment in the 2024 list has not yet been approved. Do not pick up sick or dead waterbirds with your bare hands: bird flu has been recorded in ducks in Georgia. Do not disturb nests. The red duck, white-eyed duck and garyeli found on the same water are protected species.
References
What this profile is based on
Species profiles are compiled from peer-reviewed literature and established biodiversity databases, and are reviewed as new taxonomic and conservation data become available.
Prepared by the Reptiles.ge editorial team from the sources listed here.
