Male Wood Ducks have beautiful green heads with a striking crest at the back and black and white markings, and red eyes. They really are birds with great hairdos.
Their bodies are a checkerboard of colors, with reddish-brown chests, buff sides, brown backs and tails, white markings, and flashes of blue.
Females are brown with grayish-brown heads and white around their dark eyes. They have blue patches called speculum on their wings.
- Aix sponsa
- Length: 18.5 – 21.3 in (47 – 54 cm)
- Weight: 16.0 – 30.4 oz (454 – 862 g)
- Wingspan: 26.0 – 28.7 in (66 – 73 cm)
Range
Wood Ducks are residents of eastern US states and along the Pacific Coast and parts of the northwest. Wood Ducks that breed in the north along the border with Canada migrate for winter to southern US states and Mexico.
Habitat And Diet
You can find Wood Ducks in wooded swamps, and they eat seeds, fruit, and insects, usually in the water, but they will also feed on land in fields and forests.
Wood Duck Calls:
Male Wood Ducks make a rising whistle, and female Wood ducks make a distinctive 2-note call.
Male Wood Duck call
Female Wood Duck call
Nests
Nests of Wood Ducks are usually in tree cavities, very near to water, and may be up to 60 feet off the ground. Females line the nest with down feathers plucked from their breasts.
They lay up to sixteen eggs, which take 4 or 5 weeks to hatch, and the young use their clawed feet to climb out before jumping out.
Fun Fact:
Female Wood Ducks often lay their eggs in other Wood Duck nests to be raised by others.
