States
North CarolinaTennesseeGeorgiaSouth CarolinaKentuckyAlabamaArkansasFloridaLouisianaMississippiVirginiaWest Virginia
Menu

Bird

Mallard

Anas platyrhynchos

Lives in Louisiana all year and nests here. Found in all 64 parishes, across 10 habitats.

Here
All year
Nesting
Nests here
Range
All 64 parishes
Habitats
10

At a glance

Group
Birds
Here
All year
Nesting
Nests here
Range
All 64 parishes
Habitats
10
Habitat models
Summer, Winter

Where it lives

The places its habitat model includes. It is not found everywhere a habitat occurs.

Habitats in Louisiana 10

Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.

1 of 10

Swamps

The Land of Evangeline
SummerWinterSouthern Coastal Plain Seepage Swamp and Baygall; West Gulf Coastal Plain Seepage Swamp and Baygall; East Gulf Coastal Plain Tidal Wooded Swamp; West Gulf Coastal Plain Near-Coast Large River Swamp; Lower Mississippi River Bottomland Depressions - Forest Modifier; Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Cypress Dome; Mississippi River Bottomland DepressionJoseph Rusling Meeker, The Land of Evangeline (1874): moss-hung trees over a still bayou in Louisiana swamp forest. Regional view: the painting does not name the exact site. Louisiana bayou country (Meeker, The Land of Evangeline, 1874)The Land of Evangeline, Joseph Rusling Meeker, 1874. Public domain. Source record.

Coastal dunes and beaches

Open sand of beaches, dunes and the hollows between them.

WinterUnconsolidated Shore (Beach/Dune)

Coastal Plain seepage bogs

Open, wet, seepage-fed bogs of the Coastal Plain and Sandhills, often with pitcher plants.

SummerSouthern Coastal Plain Herbaceous Seepage Bog

Coastal tidal marshes (salinity not stated)

Tidal marshes of the Atlantic and Gulf coasts where the source does not say whether the water is fresh, brackish or salt. A stated salinity files the marsh under freshwater tidal marshes or salt and brackish marshes instead.

SummerWinter

Disturbed and introduced wetlands

Wet ground taken over by weedy or introduced plants after disturbance, such as common reed, Chinese tallow or tamarisk stands; the upland counterpart is roadsides, fields and disturbed ground.

Winter

Floodplain and bottomland forests

Forests on low ground beside rivers and streams that flood from time to time.

SummerWinterMississippi River Riparian Forest; Mississippi River Low Floodplain (Bottomland) Forest; West Gulf Coastal Plain Small Stream and River Forest; West Gulf Coastal Plain Large River Floodplain Forest; Mississippi River Floodplain and Riparian Forest

Freshwater marshes

Open, herb-covered wetlands with fresh, non-tidal water.

WinterTexas-Louisiana Coastal Prairie Slough

Ponds, lakes and their shores

Still water and its edges: ponds, lakes, millponds and reservoirs.

SummerWinterOpen Water (Fresh)

Seeps and springs

Places where groundwater keeps the soil or rock wet, such as seepage slopes and spring runs.

SummerWinterSouthern Coastal Plain Seepage Swamp and Baygall; West Gulf Coastal Plain Seepage Swamp and Baygall

Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground

Ground opened by people: roadsides, old fields, pastures, fencerows and lots.

WinterOnly within 250 m of water.Developed, Open Space; Cultivated Cropland
Other habitats in its models (64)

Land cover, or classes with no habitat page in Louisiana. Those recorded in Louisiana first, the rest by region.

Elsewhere in the South (29)
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Brownwater Stream Floodplain Forest Winter.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Central Fresh-Oligohaline Tidal Marsh Summer and winter.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Embayed Region Tidal Freshwater Marsh Summer and winter.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Indian River Lagoon Tidal Marsh Winter.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Large Natural Lakeshore Summer and winter.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Small Blackwater River Floodplain Forest Winter.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Small Brownwater River Floodplain Forest Winter.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Southern Tidal Wooded Swamp Summer and winter.
  • Central Florida Herbaceous Pondshore Winter.
  • Central Florida Herbaceous Seep Winter.
  • East Gulf Coastal Plain Savanna and Wet Prairie Winter.
  • East Gulf Coastal Plain Small Stream and River Floodplain Forest Summer and winter.
  • East-Central Texas Plains Riparian Forest Winter.
  • Florida Big Bend Fresh-Oligohaline Tidal Marsh Summer and winter.
  • Floridian Highlands Freshwater Marsh Summer and winter.
  • South Florida Everglades Sawgrass Marsh Winter.
  • South Florida Freshwater Slough and Gator Hole Winter.
  • South Florida Wet Marl Prairie Winter.
  • South-Central Interior / Upper Coastal Plain Wet Flatwoods Summer.
  • South-Central Interior Large Floodplain Summer and winter.
  • South-Central Interior Small Stream and Riparian Summer and winter.
  • Southern and Central Appalachian Bog and Fen Summer.
  • Southern Coastal Plain Blackwater River Floodplain Forest Winter.
  • Southern Coastal Plain Hydric Hammock Summer.
  • Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp Summer.
  • Southern Piedmont Small Floodplain and Riparian Forest Summer and winter.
  • West Gulf Coastal Plain Nepheline Syenite Glade Winter, only within 250 m of water.
  • West Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Calcareous Prairie Winter, only within 250 m of water.
  • Western Great Plains Floodplain Summer.
Northeast (2)
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Northern Fresh and Oligohaline Tidal Marsh Summer and winter.
  • North-Central Interior Wet Flatwoods Summer and winter.
Midwest (2)
  • Western Great Plains Open Freshwater Depression Wetland Summer.
  • Western Great Plains Saline Depression Wetland Summer.
Land cover and other classes (31)
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Blackwater Stream Floodplain Forest - Forest Modifier Winter.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Clay-Based Carolina Bay Forested Wetland Summer.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Clay-Based Carolina Bay Herbaceous Wetland Summer and winter.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Depression Pondshore Summer and winter.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Nonriverine Swamp and Wet Hardwood Forest - Oak Dominated Modifier Summer.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Nonriverine Swamp and Wet Hardwood Forest - Taxodium/Nyssa Modifier Summer.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Streamhead Seepage Swamp - Pocosin - and Baygall Summer and winter.
  • Central Interior and Appalachian Floodplain Systems Summer and winter.
  • Central Interior and Appalachian Shrub-Herbaceous Wetland Systems Summer and winter.
  • Central Interior and Appalachian Swamp Systems Summer and winter.
  • Developed, Low Intensity Winter, beside its main habitat.
  • East Gulf Coastal Plain Large River Floodplain Forest - Forest Modifier Summer and winter.
  • East Gulf Coastal Plain Large River Floodplain Forest - Herbaceous Modifier Summer and winter.
  • East Gulf Coastal Plain Southern Depression Pondshore Summer and winter.
  • Eastern Great Plains Floodplain Systems Summer and winter.
  • Eastern Great Plains Wet Meadow, Prairie, and Marsh Summer and winter.
  • Open Water (Aquaculture) Summer and winter.
  • South-Central Interior Large Floodplain - Forest Modifier Summer and winter.
  • South-Central Interior Large Floodplain - Herbaceous Modifier Summer and winter.
  • Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp - Okefenokee Bay/Gum Modifier Summer.
  • Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp - Okefenokee Clethra Modifier Summer.
  • Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp - Okefenokee Nupea Modifier Summer.
  • Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp - Okefenokee Pine Modifier Summer.
  • Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp - Okefenokee Taxodium Modifier Summer.
  • Southern Piedmont Large Floodplain Forest - Forest Modifier Winter.
  • Southern Piedmont/Ridge and Valley Upland Depression Swamp Summer.
  • Tamaulipan Riparian Systems Winter.
  • Unconsolidated Shore Summer and winter.
  • Unconsolidated Shore (Lake/River/Pond) Summer and winter.
  • Western Great Plains Depressional Wetland Systems Summer and winter.
  • Western Great Plains Floodplain Systems Summer and winter.

All habitats

Seasons in Louisiana

  • Year-round: nests here, in 14 of 64 parishes.
  • Winter: does not nest here, in 60 of 64 parishes.

Food plants

Diet records by plant genus, from studies across North America. Not a record from this state. Plants matched by genus.

Native plants in these genera 181

Plant genera in its diet records (24)
  • Potamogeton Seeds and leaves. 9 diet records. 7 native plants in Louisiana
  • Carex Seeds. 5 diet records. 84 native plants in Louisiana
  • Lemna 3 diet records. 6 native plants in Louisiana
  • Ceratophyllum Fruit and seeds. 2 diet records. 2 native plants in Louisiana
  • Echinochloa Seeds. 2 diet records. 3 native plants in Louisiana
  • Myriophyllum Seeds. 2 diet records. 3 native plants in Louisiana
  • Polygonum Seeds. 2 diet records. 2 native plants in Louisiana
  • Sagittaria Seeds and roots. 2 diet records. 7 native plants in Louisiana
  • Schoenoplectus Seeds. 2 diet records. 6 native plants in Louisiana
  • Scirpus Seeds. 2 diet records. 5 native plants in Louisiana
  • Sparganium Seeds. 2 diet records. 1 native plant in Louisiana
  • Stuckenia Seeds and roots. 2 diet records. 1 native plant in Louisiana
  • Beckmannia Seeds. 1 diet record. 0 native plants in Louisiana
  • Bidens Seeds. 1 diet record. 8 native plants in Louisiana
  • Brasenia Seeds. 1 diet record. 1 native plant in Louisiana
  • Chara 1 diet record. 0 native plants in Louisiana
  • Hippuris Seeds. 1 diet record. 0 native plants in Louisiana
  • Najas Seeds. 1 diet record. 1 native plant in Louisiana
  • Persicaria Seeds. 1 diet record. 10 native plants in Louisiana
  • Quercus Seeds. 1 diet record. 31 native plants in Louisiana
  • Scolochloa Seeds. 1 diet record. 0 native plants in Louisiana
  • Triticum 1 diet record. 0 native plants in Louisiana
  • Zannichellia Seeds. 1 diet record. 1 native plant in Louisiana
  • Zizania Seeds. 1 diet record. 2 native plants in Louisiana

Avian Diet Database (Hurlbert Lab), CC0 1.0.

Also found in its main habitats

Its main habitats in Louisiana, by how much of its habitat model each one is, with the birds most characteristic of each and the plants that grow wild there. Shared habitat, not food.

Swamps

Birds 118

Plants 237

All of swamps in Louisiana

Floodplain and bottomland forests

Birds 107

Plants 267

All of floodplain and bottomland forests in Louisiana

Seeps and springs

Birds 77

Plants 113

All of seeps and springs in Louisiana

USGS Gap Analysis Project habitat models.

Sources