"species they resembled more. Only the former had a distinct nuptial (breeding) plumage: the head was green as in mallard drakes, but less glossy, with some buff feathers on the sides, a dark brown eyestripe and a faint whitish ring at the base of the neck. The upper breast was dark ruddish chestnut brown with blackish-brown spots. The wing patch (speculum) and the tail was also like in mallard drakes' nuptial plumage, including curled-up central tail feathers, but the tips of the speculum feathers were buff. The underside was a mix between the vermiculated grey feathers of the mallard and"
"is yellow in males, but black and orange in females; 2)the breast feathers are reddish-brown in males, but brown in females; and 3)in males, the centre tail feather (drake feather) is curled, but in females, the centre tail feather is straight. During the final period of maturity leading up to adulthood (6–10 months of age), the plumage of female juveniles remains the same while the plumage of male juveniles gradually changes to its characteristic colours. This change in plumage also applies to adult mallard males when they transition in and out of their non-breeding eclipse plumage at the beginning and"
"to very dark brown, a coloration shared by most female dabbling ducks, and has buff cheeks, eyebrow, throat, and neck, with a darker crown and eye-stripe. Both male and female mallards have distinct iridescent purple-blue speculum feathers edged with white, which are prominent in flight or at rest but temporarily shed during the annual summer moult. Upon hatching, the plumage of the duckling is yellow on the underside and face (with streaks by the eyes) and black on the back (with some yellow spots) all the way to the top and back of the head. Its legs and bill are"
"the end of the summer moulting period. The adulthood age for mallards is fourteen months, and the average life expectancy is three years, but they can live to twenty. Several species of duck have brown-plumaged females that can be confused with the female mallard. The female gadwall (""A.strepera"") has an orange-lined bill, white belly, black and white speculum that is seen as a white square on the wings in flight, and is a smaller bird. More similar to the female mallard in North America are the American black duck (""A.rubripes""), which is notably darker-hued in both sexes than the mallard,"
"mallard complex. Recent analyses indicate that this is a distinct species that arose through ancient hybridization between mallard and Laysan duck (""Anas laysanensis""). The native Hawaiian name for this duck is koloa maoli (meaning ""native duck""), or simply koloa. This species is listed as endangered by the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, and its population trend is decreasing. Both male and female are mottled brown in color and resemble a female mallard. The males are usually bigger than the females. The speculum feathers of both sexes are green to blue, bordered on both sides by white. The tail is"
"wing chord of and wingspan of . The male is in length and weighs , and therefore is considerably larger than the female, which is long and weighs . The northern pintail broadly overlaps in size with the similarly-widespread mallard, but is more slender, elongated and gracile, with a relatively longer neck and (in males) a longer tail. The unmistakable breeding plumaged male has a chocolate-brown head and white breast with a white stripe extending up the side of the neck. Its upperparts and sides are grey, but elongated grey feathers with black central stripes are draped across the back"
"eyes. Both sexes have a shiny green-blue speculum (wing patch), which is not bordered with white as with the mallard. Males and females are similar, but the male's bill is bright yellow, whereas the female's is deep to pale orange, occasionally lined with black splotches around the edges and near the base. The plumage is darker than in female mallards, especially at the tail, and the bill is yellower. In flight, the lack of a white border to the speculum is a key difference. The American black duck is darker than most mottled ducks, and its wing-patch is more purple"
"mask is comparatively larger in males when closely observed. The colour of the tail feathers is a dusky shade of brown with fine black barring and the central tail feathers become crimson toward the coverts. Descriptions of the iris are as red or dark brown, the eye-ring as pale blue, and the legs as dark- or pink-brown. The bill of both sexes is red, although a coating on the bill of the male intensifies its colour during the breeding season. The average size of the adult is around 125 milimetres (mm) in length. The weight of males is 11.4–16.0 grams,"
"and the mottled duck (""A.fulvigula""), which is somewhat darker than the female mallard, and with slightly different bare-part colouration and no white edge on the speculum. In captivity, domestic ducks come in wild-type plumages, white, and other colours. Most of these colour variants are also known in domestic mallards not bred as livestock, but kept as pets, aviary birds, etc., where they are rare but increasing in availability. A noisy species, the female has the deep ""quack"" stereotypically associated with ducks. Male mallards make a sound phonetically similar to that of the female, a typical ""quack"", but it is a"
"mallard is 26 inches. The female mallard are the only ones that quack. This is how they communicate. The male mallard likes to strut around to attract other female mallards. Mallards live in North America, Europe, Asia and Australia. They migrate during winter to warmer, southern places like California, central United States or Mexico. In the spring, females lay 8-12 buffy green eggs. You would never want to bother a mother laying on her eggs because she is very protective of danger for her new babies, she might come towards you and try and scare you off. When the babies"
"red, pink, blue, scarlet, and purple. They also have pale pink ischial callosities. The coloration of the animal is more pronounced in dominant adult males. Both sexes have chest glands, which are used in olfactory communication. These, too, are more prominent in dominant adult males. Males also have longer canines than females, which can be up to and 1.0 cm, respectively. The mandrill is one of the most sexually dimorphic mammals due to extremely strong sexual selection which favors males in both size and coloration. Males typically weigh , with an average mass of . Females weigh roughly half as"
". Females and juveniles have a tawny brown pelage, although they may be temporarily light gray or silver after molting. The pelage of adult males can be anywhere from light brown to black, but is typically dark brown. The face of adult males may also be light tan in some areas. Pups have a black or dark brown pelage at birth. Although the species has a slender build, adult males have robust necks, chests, and shoulders. Adult males also have a protruding crest which gives them a ""high, domed forehead""; it is tufted with white hairs. They also have manes,"
"is slightly larger than the female, weighing on average against her . The breeding male is patterned grey, with a black rear end, light chestnut wings, and a brilliant white speculum, obvious in flight or at rest. In non-breeding (eclipse) plumage, the drake looks more like the female, but retains the male wing pattern, and is usually greyer above and has less orange on the bill. The female is light brown, with plumage much like a female mallard. It can be distinguished from that species by the dark orange-edged bill, smaller size, the white speculum, and white belly. Both sexes"
"medium-sized parrot. The adult male has a crimson forehead and crown, which extends from the gape or base of the lower mandible through the eye and grey-brown lores. Its hindneck and cheeks are green, and its ear coverts are more yellow-green. In March and April, the crown feathers and ear coverts of birds with new plumage can have fine black edging. The feathers of the head, back and underparts, have grey bases that are generally hidden. The upperparts, including the wings, are dark green, the rump yellow-green, and the tail is green with a dark blue tip. The underparts are"
"cm in diameter. Although their coloration varies, most adults are dark brown, dark olive, or gray. Juveniles tend to be darker in color. Coloration is confined to the dorsal and lateral sides of the body; the ventral surface is usually translucent. Many individuals have a light, cream- or yellow-colored stripe on the top of the tail. The head is roughly shovel-shaped, broad but relatively short, and widest at the point where the upper and lower jaws meet. Three prominent external gills—often deep red in color—extend from each side of the head. The eyes are relatively large and have gold-colored irises."
"of and a weight of . It has relatively long wings for its size; when the wings are folded, the longest primary feathers reach over half the length of the tail. It exhibits sexual dimorphism, with the male much more brightly coloured than the female. The adult male has a bright red (scarlet) head, nape and upper breast, with a narrow black stripe from beak to eye and a thin black eye-ring. The red plumage extends as a central stripe down the back and rump. On its breast, the red becomes more mottled with grey towards the belly and flanks,"
"eyes. The legs are black below the tarsal as is the muzzle. The tail is of a paler reddish tone than the rest of the body on its upper part and black on the under part. The head-and-body length is , while the tail adds a further . The height at the shoulder can range from . The hoof, which is large in relation to the body, has elastic interdigital membranes which are useful for swimming and walking on marshy surfaces. Only the males possess antlers which are ramified and reach a length of 60 cm (23 inches). An adult"
"at first and darken over time, and are partially black when the larvae emerge. The larva appears white or yellow, is hump-backed, and has a black head and six small legs. It has a defense mechanism in which it smears excrement on its body to mask its vibrant color and to deter predators. This gives it a shiny black appearance, as opposed to yellow or white. Adults, on average, are about 5 mm long and have dark-blue wing covers and red legs. Their thoraces range in color from red to orange to reddish brown. The biggest distinction between male and"
"on all fours can range from in females and in males. Compared to the largest baboons, the mandrill is more ape-like in structure, with a muscular and compact build, shorter, thicker limbs that are longer in the front and almost no tail. Mandrills can live up to 31 years in captivity. Females reach sexual maturity at about 3.5 years. Mandrills are noted as being exceptionally colourful by mammalian standards. Charles Darwin wrote in ""The Descent of Man"": ""no other member in the whole class of mammals is coloured in so extraordinary a manner as the adult male mandrill's"". The bright"
"variability of the mallard's genetic code, which gives it its vast interbreeding capability, mutations in the genes that decide plumage colour are very common and have resulted in a wide variety of hybrids such as Brewer's duck (mallard × gadwall, ""Anas strepera""). The mallard is widely distributed across the Northern and Southern Hemispheres; in North America its range extends from southern and central Alaska to Mexico, the Hawaiian Islands, across Eurasia, from Iceland and southern Greenland and parts of Morocco (North Africa) in the west, Scandinavia and Britain to the north, and to Siberia, Japan, and South Korea, in the"
"is cone-shaped and strong. Young birds, both male and female, show coloring similar to the adult female until the fall, when they molt and grow adult feathers. They are brown above and red-brown below, with brick-colored crest, forehead, wings, and tail. The legs and feet are a dark pink-brown. The iris of the eye is brown. The plumage color of the males is produced from carotenoid pigments in the diet. Coloration is produced from both red pigments and yellow carotenoid pigments. Northern cardinal males normally metabolize carotenoid pigments to create plumage pigmentation of a color different from the ingested pigment."
"linear dimorphism. In standard measurements, male martial eagles measure in wing chord size, in tail length and in tarsus length. Meanwhile, females measure in wing chord, in tail length and tarsal length. Overall, the bulk and much more massive proportions of females, which include more robust feet and longer tarsi, may at times allow experienced observers to sex lone birds in the wild. The adult's plumage consists of dark brown coloration on the upperparts, head and upper chest, with an occasional slightly lighter edging to these feathers. The dark feathers can appear grayish, blackish or even plum-colored depending on lighting"
"each of its parents. From his human parent, he receives height and agility. From his dwarven parent, the mul gets incredible strength and endurance. At maturity, a mul stands as much as ' tall, weighing 240–300 lbs. Each is fair skinned, though sometimes tending toward a coppery coloration. A mul's eyebrow ridges are pronounced, and the ears are usually pointed toward the back of the head; otherwise, facial features are basically human. Regardless of sex, most muls are naturally bald, but those who aren't usually shave their heads as a mark of racial unity. Since many muls are born into"
"and weighing . Males, averaging in mass, are slightly larger than females, at on average. An adult purple gallinule has purple-blue plumage that will shine green and turquoise when in good lighting. Adults also have a pale blue shield on their forehead, which connects with the red and yellow bill. Darkness or low light can dim the bright purple-blue plumage of the adult to make them look dusky or brownish, although the forehead shield color differentiates them from similar species such as common gallinules. Immature purple gallinules are a brown-bronze color, with purple feathers on chest, and the bill and"
"other closely related species, each inhabiting different locations, there are subtle similarities and differences between the local populations, and their taxonomic treatment depends on the views of the taxonomist. The sunbird is a large-sized species. The adult male has a glossy, metallic green head, throat upper breast and back with no bronzy tinge. The upper-tail coverts are metallic blue and the tail black glossed with blue. The throat and upper breast are metallic green, the lower breast scarlet and the rest of the underparts are dark olive. When displaying, yellow feather tufts are visible on the shoulders. As with other"
"the evidence for this is unconvincing. Adult length is between . The upper parts are black heavily barred with white, with the mantle being unbarred. The upper tail is black with some white markings on the outer feathers. The crown and nape are red in the male and black in the female. The face is whitish with a black moustache which unites with a stripe on the edge of the breast. The throat, breast and belly are greyish-yellow or greyish-buff, boldly streaked with black. The under tail coverts are red. The iris is chestnut and the beak is grey, long"
"Harlequins weigh 4.5 to 5.5 pounds (2-2.5 kilos). Females have a black bill and brown legs and feet, and their plumage is similar to a mallard but heavily frosted with white. They also lack the eye stripes of mallard females. Drakes are also similar to a heavily frosted Mallard with a yellow/green bill and orange legs and feet. There is also a color variation known as ""golden"", popular in the UK, which replaces the black feather pigments with a light golden brown color. Welsh Harlequins have a unique, natural sex-linked characteristic. As day olds, sex can be determined based on"
"large spatulate bill. The breeding drake has an iridescent dark green head, white breast and chestnut belly and flanks. In flight, pale blue forewing feathers are revealed, separated from the green speculum by a white border. In early fall the male will have a white crescent on each side of the face. In non-breeding (eclipse) plumage, the drake resembles the female. The female is a drab mottled brown like other dabblers, with plumage much like a female mallard, but easily distinguished by the long broad bill, which is gray tinged with orange on cutting edge and lower mandible. The female's"
"collar is bordered by narrow light colored edges. Sexually mature males differ from females, and juveniles in appearance, and it has been hypothesized that this may be the result of sexual selection. The males display longer and deeper heads, as well as longer limbs when compared to females. Females are also generally a little bit shorter in length than males. Sexually mature males also display different coloration than females or juveniles. Sexually mature males have an orange head and black body, in contrast to the much more subdued coloring and yellow heads of females, juveniles, and not sexually mature males."
"wings; males especially tend to have blue speculum feathers. The mallard is long, of which the body makes up around two-thirds the length. The wingspan is and the bill is long. It is often slightly heavier than most other dabbling ducks, weighing . Mallards live in wetlands, eat water plants and small animals, and are social animals preferring to congregate in groups or flocks of varying sizes. This species is the main ancestor of most breeds of domesticated ducks. The female lays eight to thirteen creamy white to greenish-buff spotless eggs, on alternate days. Incubation takes 27 to 28 days"
"and males have a hump behind the head. The hump gets larger as the males get older. Adult males have a red-orange tail and tail-base. The upper part of the body and head are olive-brownish to dusky. A broad, poorly defined bluish-black band runs from the gill cover to the tail, but it virtually disappears on the mid-body region. The throat and belly or yellowish to whitish. Females lack the red-orange and are overall more plainly colored. Females are generally slightly larger than males. Females grow to 7 centimeters (2.8 inches) while males grow to 6 centimeters (2.4 inches). Among"
"long reddish-yellow to grayish-green legs. The body feathers are generally blackish and dark, sometimes grey brown overall with a coppery sheen that becomes more complex in adult males. Adult males, called toms or gobblers, have a large, featherless, reddish head, red throat, and red wattles on the throat and neck. The head has fleshy growths called caruncles. Juvenile males are called jakes; the difference between an adult male and a juvenile is that the jake has a very short beard and his tail fan has longer feathers in the middle. The adult male's tail fan feathers will be all the"
"male, large patches or bands of white on the wings which do not appear until the completion of the bird's first moulting. The head and neck are red to blackish-red and have few feathers. The head and neck are meticulously kept clean by the bird, and their baldness is an adaptation for hygiene, allowing the skin to be exposed to the sterilizing effects of dehydration and ultraviolet light at high altitudes. The crown of the head is flattened. In the male, the head is crowned with a dark red caruncle or comb, while the skin of his neck lies in"