Mallard Duck
Anas platyrhynchos
"With its metallic green head and neck, white
collar, chesnut breast and gleaming yellow bill, he sets the
example for sartorial splendor ... The female
wears more subdued plumage in shades of mottled camouflage brown;
her orangebill is marked with black. Both share the iridescent
violet-blue wing-patch, the speculum, bordered on both sides
by white ... The mallard migrates and winters throughout Texas.
It is most abundant in the Panhandle, more scattered and local
elsewhere."
The duck on the right is a Ring-Necked Duck. Both
were present in December & January.
Picture taken with a Nikon D70, using a Nikon 200mm,
f/4 lens and a Nikon TC 200 teleconverter.
December 30, 2005.