The
Wood Duck or
Carolina Duck (
Aix sponsa) is a medium-sized
perching duckThe perching ducks were previously treated as a small group of ducks in the duck, goose and swan family Anatidae, grouped together on the basis of their readiness to perch high in trees...
. A typical adult is about 19 inches in length with an average wingspan of 29 inches. This is about three-quarters of the length of an adult
MallardThe Mallard , probably the best-known and most recognizable of all ducks, is a dabbling duck which breeds throughout the temperate and sub-tropical areas of North America, Europe, Asia, Africa, New Zealand , and Australia...
. It shares its genus with the
AsiaAsia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.6% of the earth's total surface area and with approximately 4 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population.Asia is traditionally defined as part of the...
n
Mandarin DuckThe Mandarin Duck , or just Mandarin, is a medium-sized perching duck, closely related to the North American Wood Duck. It is 41–49 cm long with a 65–75 cm wingspan....
.
The adult male has distinctive multi-colored iridescent plumage and red eyes. The female, less colorful, has a white eye-ring and a whitish throat.
The
Wood Duck or
Carolina Duck (
Aix sponsa) is a medium-sized
perching duckThe perching ducks were previously treated as a small group of ducks in the duck, goose and swan family Anatidae, grouped together on the basis of their readiness to perch high in trees...
. A typical adult is about 19 inches in length with an average wingspan of 29 inches. This is about three-quarters of the length of an adult
MallardThe Mallard , probably the best-known and most recognizable of all ducks, is a dabbling duck which breeds throughout the temperate and sub-tropical areas of North America, Europe, Asia, Africa, New Zealand , and Australia...
. It shares its genus with the
AsiaAsia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.6% of the earth's total surface area and with approximately 4 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population.Asia is traditionally defined as part of the...
n
Mandarin DuckThe Mandarin Duck , or just Mandarin, is a medium-sized perching duck, closely related to the North American Wood Duck. It is 41–49 cm long with a 65–75 cm wingspan....
.
The adult male has distinctive multi-colored iridescent plumage and red eyes. The female, less colorful, has a white eye-ring and a whitish throat. Both adults have crested heads. When swimming, wood ducks bob their head back and forth in a jerking motion, which makes them easy to spot.
Their breeding habitat is wooded
swampA swamp is a wetland featuring temporary or permanent inundation of large areas of land by shallow bodies of water. A swamp generally has a substantial number of hammocks, or dry-land protrusions, covered by aquatic vegetation, or vegetation that tolerates periodical inundation. The two main types...
s, shallow lakes,
marshIn geography, a marsh, or morass, is a type of wetland which is subject to frequent or continuous flood. Typically the water is shallow and features grasses, rushes, reeds, typhas, sedges, and other herbaceous plants. Woody plants will be low-growing shrubs. A marsh is different from a swamp,...
es or ponds in eastern North America, the west coast of the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and western
MexicoThe United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
. They usually nest in cavities in trees close to water, although they will take advantage of nesting boxes in wetland locations if available. The wood duck tends to fly for prolonged periods of time after reproducing. Their personality is shy and skittish.
Females typically lay between 9 and 14 eggs. However, if nesting boxes are placed too close together, females may lay eggs in the nests of their neighbors, which may lead to nests which may contain as many as 40 eggs and unsuccessful incubation, a behavior known as "nest dumping". They prefer nesting over water so the young have a soft landing, but will nest up to away from the shoreline. The day after they hatch, the young climb to the nest entrance and jump to the ground. The baby ducks can swim and find their own food by this time.
The birds are year-round residents in
East TexasEast Texas is a distinct geographic and ecological area in the U.S. state of Texas.According to the Handbook of Texas, the East Texas area "may be separated from the rest of Texas roughly by a line extending from the Red River in north central Lamar County southwestward to east central Limestone...
and other southern parts of their range, but the northern populations migrate south for the winter. They overwinter in the southern United States near the Atlantic coast. They are also popular, due to their attractive plumage, in waterfowl collections and as such are frequently recorded in
Great BritainGreat Britain is an island lying to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island. With a population of about 59.6 million people, it is the third most populated island on Earth. Great Britain is surrounded by over 1000 smaller...
as escapes - populations have become temporarily established in
SurreySurrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire, and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford...
in the past but are not considered to be self-sustaining in the fashion of the closely related
Mandarin DuckThe Mandarin Duck , or just Mandarin, is a medium-sized perching duck, closely related to the North American Wood Duck. It is 41–49 cm long with a 65–75 cm wingspan....
. Given its native distribution the species is also a potential natural vagrant to Western Europe and there have been records in areas such as
CornwallCornwall is a county of England in the United Kingdom, forming the tip of the south-western peninsula of Great Britain. It is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic Ocean, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Taken with the...
and
the
Isles of ScillyThe Isles of Scilly form an archipelago off the southwestern tip of the Cornish peninsula of the British Isles. Traditionally administered as part of the county of Cornwall, the islands have had a unitary authority council since 1889...
which some observers consider may relate to wild birds; however, given the Wood Duck's popularity in captivity it would be extremely difficult to prove their provenance one way or another.
These birds feed by dabbling or walking on land. They mainly eat berries and seeds, but also insects, making them
omnivoreOmnivores are species that eat both plants and animals as their primary food source...
s.
The male's call is a rising whistle; the female gives a whistled
whoo-eek if startled.
The population of the Wood Duck was in serious decline at the beginning of the 20th century as a result of severe habitat loss and market hunting both for meat and plumage for the ladies' hat market in Europe. Banning market hunting and establishment of game laws to regulate sports hunting along with conservation efforts including widespread construction of nesting boxes in suitable habitat resulted in this species' return to sustainable numbers.
Landowners as well as park and refuge managers can encourage Wood Ducks by building Wood Duck nest boxes near lakes, ponds, and streams.
Fulda, MinnesotaFulda is a city in Murray County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 1,283 at the 2000 census.-Geography:According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 1.0 square miles , of which, 1.0 square miles of it is land and 0.1 square miles of it is...
has adopted the wood duck as an unofficial mascot, and a large number of nest boxes can be found in the area. In May 2009, the wood duck was recognized as the official state duck of
South CarolinaSouth Carolina is a U.S. state that borders Georgia to the south and North Carolina to the north. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence from the British Crown during the American Revolution. The colony was...
.
The population of the wood duck has increased a great deal in the last several years. The increase has been due to the work of many people constructing wood duck boxes and conserving vital habitat for the wood ducks to breed. During the open waterfowl season, U.S. hunters have only been allowed to take two wood ducks per day in the Atlantic and Mississippi Flyways. However, for the 2008-2009 season, the limit was raised to three. The wood duck limit remains at two in the Central Flyway and at seven in the Pacific Flyway.
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