Even though mallards breed in the spring, they begin courting in September. In some places 90% of them are paired by the time winter arrives.
Watch them on lakes, ponds, rivers, and in the video above to see these courtship actions(*).
Male courtship moves:
- Swimming broadside to the female
- Head sunk in shoulders: an introductory posture
- Head-Shake: wagging the head from side to side
- Head-Flick: arching the neck to the tip of the bill. This ends in flicking the head.
- Swimming-Shake (not sure I saw this in the video)
- Several males simultaneously display with:
- Grunt-Whistle: whistle, then grunt. (the video calls this spitting)
- Head-Up-Tail-Up (This is my favorite!)
- Down-Up: looks like bowing
Female courtship moves encourage the males:
- Nod-swimming: bobs her head up/down
- Steaming forward: swims quickly with neck low to the water
Pairing up:
- Male tries to lead female away by doing Turn-Back-of-Head in front of her. If she likes him, it works.
Listen for these sounds: When you hear the whistle, it’s a male courtship sound. Only the females say “Quack.”
(*) The capitalized terms are from Birds of North America Online.
(video from YouTube via dreamfalcon.wordpress.com)