What Are the Signs of a Male Duck?

Coloring

• Many male ducks are brighter colored than the female ducks of the same species. Male mallard ducks, for example, have distinctive green heads with a white neck ring, while female mallard ducks are mostly brown in color. Another type of duck is the Mandarin. The male in this species is brightly colored with bright orange on its back and a chestnut and green crest. The females are not as brightly colored.

Size

• Male ducks are typically larger than female ducks. Mallard males are larger than females and this can help you determine the sex of a duck. Male mallards can grow up to 26 inches and weigh up to 3 pounds, while the females are more in line with juvenile mallards, which are slightly smaller. In other duck species such as the Mandarin and the American black duck, the males are slightly larger.

Tail

• Many male ducks have tail feathers that curl up once they are around two months old. This is called the sex feather and it starts from the bottom and coils into a a curl. The feather does not disappear even if the drake is molting. Mallards, Peking and Mandarin ducks have this curled sex feather on the drakes. Some experts can also turn the ducks upside-down to check the genitals of the duck. However, this is a real skill. Males have an elongated organ, while females have coil-like genitals.

Voices

• Male ducks have different voices than females. Most females have louder and more intense calls than male ducks. Mallard females have distinctive loud quacks, while males have softer rasping noises. In courtship, mallard drakes make grunts and whistles during courtship displays. Some male ducks also sound similar to chicken roosters. This variation in the calls is noticeable when ducks are approximately one month old.