Mallard drake | Feathered Friends - Show Me A Photo Contest Round 160

Hello, friends.
For this week's photo contest Feathered Friends - Show Me A Photo Contest Round 160 @nelinoeva asked to see photos male birds.

I have many photographs of different ducks and among them I chose several photographs of mallard duck drakes. This wild duck is probably one of the most famous birds; it is distributed throughout almost the entire northern hemisphere, from the subtropics to the Arctic latitudes.

The mallard duck drakes are distinguished from the females by their coloring. The head and neck of the male are green, the neck ends with a narrow white “collar”, which has a gap on the back. The crop and chest are brownish-brown, the back and ventral side of the body are light gray with thin transverse spots. Also, male mallards are slightly larger than females.

For comparison, here is a photo of a female mallard with her ducklings. The female mallard is not much different from the females of many other river ducks - they are all united by a motley combination of black, brown and red tones in the upper part of the body. Young birds, regardless of gender, are more similar to the female, and differ from her only in duller plumage.
The photographs were taken in the Kaliningrad region on various ponds and lakes.

The first photo is submitted for participation in Feathered Friends - Show Me A Photo Contest Round 160 by @nelinoeva
The last photo submitted for participation in PhotoFeed Contest - Wildlife Photography Round 72 by @photofeed
Camera: Nikon 1 S1
Location: Kaliningrad region
Friends, thank you for your attention, see you soon.
Best regards @irvet