Loss of wetlands to agriculture and development negatively impacts waterfow
l. Greentree reservoirs are forested tracts that are purposefully flooded t
o increase hunting opportunities for sportsman and to provide shelter for w
aterfowl such as Mallards (Anas platyrhynchus). These human-made wetlands c
an also make natural foods such as acorns and invertebrates available to Ma
llards. Food habits analysis conducted in 1959 indicated acorns composed 24
% of the volume of diets of Mallards collected from a variety of habitats i
ncluding agricultural fields, naturally flooded bottomland forests, and gre
entree reservoirs in Arkansas. However, changes that may have occurred in f
ood use by Mallards in bottomland hardwood habitats in Arkansas since last
examined are unclear. We examined foods used by Mallards in greentree reser
voirs from November 1990 to February 1991 in southeastern Arkansas. Sevente
en species of plants and 21 families/orders of animals occurred in the diet
of Mallards. Mallards consumed 65% plant matter, primarily seeds of narrow
leaf foresteria (Foresteria angustifolia), Nuttall oak (Quercus nuttallii),
Pennsylvania smartweed (Polygonum pensylvanicum), and rice (Oryza sativa).
Invertebrate taxa, constituting 6% or more of the sample by both volume an
d mass, included the orders Coleoptera, Diptera, and Isopoda. Diets of Mall
ards present in greentree reservoirs in our study indicate Mallards still u
se natural foods, though agricultural seeds were in close proximity to natu
ral foods.