Mallard Duck?

I am doing a biology research paper on the Mallard Duck...and I need some help.


1. What is the worldwide population of the Mallard?


2. What are the parts of their anatomy that enable them to catch/harvest their food supply.


3. How does the Mallard benefit mankind or the Environment?


4. Is the Mallard a primary consumer or secondary consumer?


Thank you soo much!

Mallard Duck?
I would check with the Audubon society about the population statistics for this species. I think in N. America the population is about 9 million.


The Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) is the ancestor of almost all of the varieties of domestic ducks. Domestic ducks belong to the subfamily Anatinae of the waterfowl family Anatidae. The wild mallard and Muscovy duck (Cairina moschata) are believed to be the ancestors of all domestic ducks. The Mallard inhabits most wetlands, including parks, small ponds and rivers, and usually feeds by dabbling for plant food or grazing; there are reports of it eating frogs. They use their beaks to feed and are surface feeding ducks, and don't usually dive to eat. The mallard feeds by "tipping up" and reaching below the surface with its bill in the shallows of ponds, lakes, streams and swamps. Mallards can feed anywhere that water is a foot or two deep, although they can reach for food in deeper water if necessary. Mallards are primarily vegetarians who eat various seeds including corn, wheat, barley, bulrushes, wild rice, primrose, willow, seeds of water elm, oak, hackberry and other trees of swamps or river bottoms. Mallards will also eat some mollusks, insects, small fish, tadpoles, freshwater snails and fish eggs.


Release of feral Mallard Ducks worldwide is creating havoc on indigenous waterfowl, these don't migrate and stay back in the local breeding season and interbreed with indigenous rare wild ducks devastating local populations of closely related species through genetic pollution by producing fertile offspring.