Mexican Duck

Basic Description

The Mexican Duck is an understated dabbling duck that can easily be passed off as "just a female Mallard"—brownish overall with rich cinnamon (male) or buffy (female) highlights. In fact, it was treated as a Mallard subspecies for decades, from 1973 to 2020. But this distinct species has carved out a unique existence in the arid highlands of northern and central Mexico, where it breeds in temporary rainy-season wetlands and forages for agricultural crops during the lengthy dry season. This well-named species has 98% of its global population in Mexico, with just a small range extending into South Texas and the southwestern U.S.