Maggie's Farm

We enter duck season these weeks, in many areas of the US.

The noble Mallard is the King of Ducks in the US. He is our most abundant and adaptable duck, and the tastiest, at least for those for whom the others are too gamey. (Not for me, tho.) He is found across the entire US and most of Canada, wherever water is nearby, from parks to prairies, and everyone is familiar with this handsome drake who is often seen in companionship with his plain, brown hen.

These ducks are highly migratory in the mid-west and west, following unfrozen water south. (Like most species of ducks, they tend to prefer fresh to salt water.) Thus their widespread population is heavily concentrated in the southern US during the winter. Many duck hunters will shoot nothing but drake Mallards. And they are a fine bird, even if you do not hunt them. More info about the sporty Mallard here.