without checking a reference book, I think mallard ducks are significantly louder than the drakes. I had one stop off in my backyard during migration--apparently just for a rest, because I couldn't find a thing wrong with her. (I don't even have a pond; I had to put a plastic wading pool out for her!) Every morning, just as the sky began to brighten, she'd let out a horrendously loud QUAAAAAACCCKKK! QUACK-quack-quack-quack-quack! The five quacks in succession were like notes descending a scale. It always sounded to me like she was laughing at some hilarious duck joke. Sort of a ducky "belly laugh."
If it WAS a duck you heard, it could have been in the brush rather than out on the water.
Posted on Oct 1, 2002, 12:38 AM from IP address 207.189.173.166