<P> Mallards of all ages (but especially young ones) and in all locations must contend with a wide diversity of predators including raptors, mustelids, corvids, snakes, raccoons, opossums, skunks, turtles, large fish, felids, and canids, including domesticated ones . The most prolific natural predators of adult mallards are red foxes (which most often pick off brooding females) and the faster or larger birds of prey, i.e. peregrine falcons, Aquila eagles, or Haliaeetus eagles . In North America, adult mallards face no fewer than 15 species of birds of prey, from northern harriers and short - eared owls (both smaller than a mallard) to huge bald and golden eagles, and about a dozen species of mammalian predator, not counting several more avian and mammalian predators who threaten eggs and nestlings . </P> <P> Mallards are also preyed upon by other waterside apex predators, such as the grey heron, European herring gull, the wels catfish, and the northern pike . Crows (Corvus spp.) are also known to kill ducklings and adults on occasion . Also, mallards may be attacked by larger anseriformes such as swans (Cygnus spp.) and geese during the breeding season, and are frequently driven off by these birds over territorial disputes . Mute swans (C. olor) have been known to attack or even kill mallards if they feel that the ducks pose a threat to their offspring . </P> <P> Since 1998, the mallard has been rated as a species of least concern on the IUCN Red List of Endangered Species . This is because it has a large range--more than 20,000 km (7700 mi)--and because its population is increasing, rather than declining by 30% over ten years or three generations and thus is not warranted a vulnerable rating . Also, the population size of the mallard is very large . </P> <P> Unlike many waterfowl, mallards have benefited from human alterations to the world--so much so that they are now considered an invasive species in some regions . They are a common sight in urban parks, lakes, ponds, and other man - made water features in the regions they inhabit, and are often tolerated or encouraged in human habitat due to their placid nature towards humans and their beautiful and iridescent colours . While most are not domesticated, mallards are so successful at coexisting in human regions that the main conservation risk they pose comes from the loss of genetic diversity among a region's traditional ducks once humans and mallards colonise an area . Mallards are very adaptable, being able to live and even thrive in urban areas which may have supported more localised, sensitive species of waterfowl before development . The release of feral mallards in areas where they are not native sometimes creates problems through interbreeding with indigenous waterfowl . These non-migratory mallards interbreed with indigenous wild ducks from local populations of closely related species through genetic pollution by producing fertile offspring . Complete hybridisation of various species of wild duck gene pools could result in the extinction of many indigenous waterfowl . The wild mallard itself is the ancestor of most domestic ducks, and its naturally evolved wild gene pool gets genetically polluted in turn by the domesticated and feral populations . </P>

How many ducklings can a mallard duck have