Wood Duck
Wood Duck

Wood Duck

Acorn duck, American wood duck, Carolina duck, Carolina wood duck, Aquealer, Summer duck, Woodie

Kingdom
Animalia
Phylum
Chordata
Class
Aves
Order
Anseriformes
Family
Anatidae
Genus
Aix
SPECIES
Aix sponsa
Population size
3.5 Mln
Life Span
3-15 yrs
TOP SPEED
88.5 km/h
WEIGHT
635-681 g
LENGTH
47-54 cm
WINGSPAN
66-73 cm

The Wood duck is among the most stunningly beautiful of all water birds. Males are iridescent green and chestnut, with ornate patterns on almost every feather, while the elegant female has a delicate white pattern around her eye and a distinctive profile. These birds inhabit wooded swamps, where their nests are in holes up in trees or in the nest boxes around lake margins. These are one of a few duck species that have strong claws to perch on branches and grip bark. In 1918 this species was near extinction as a result of habitat loss and hunting. Wildlife management has fortunately protected this species so that it is amongst the most common ducks today in the eastern US.

Di

Diurnal

Om

Omnivore

Se

Semiaquatic

Sh

Shorebirds

Wa

Waterfowl

Pr

Precocial

Mo

Monogamy

So

Social

Fl

Flocking

Pa

Partially migrant

W

starts with

Photos with Wood Duck

Wood Ducks
Wood Duck Male
Wood duck and reflection
Female Wood Duck
MANDARIN DUCK

Distribution

Wood ducks are widespread across North America. Larger population breeds in Manitoba east to Nova Scotia, also south to Florida, Texas, the Gulf of Mexico and Cuba. There is also a small Pacific coast population that breeds from British Columbia in Canada to California in the United States. This bird is partially migratory, northern populations moving south for the winter, all the way to Mexico. Wood ducks frequents many habitats, including wooded areas on the banks of lakes, freshwater ponds, and quiet rivers, needing well-wooded areas when nesting.

Wood Duck habitat map

Geography

Continents
North America, Europe
Subcontinents
Caribbean Islands
Countries
Canada, Cuba, Mexico, United States, Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Denmark, Dominica, Iceland, Show More Jamaica, Portugal, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Spain Show Less

Biome

Temperate broadleaf and mixed forest
Lakes
Rivers

Climate zones

Temperate
Cold
Wood Duck / Canard branchu / Wood Duck / Aix sponsa

Habits and Lifestyle

Wood ducks walk, fly and swim. They are diurnal and sleep on the water, except for females with ducklings. They are social birds and often gather in the evening. They migrate in small flocks or pairs. Although not territorial, they will protect their mates by chasing, pecking and hitting. Such battles are often short. When threatening another bird, they will jerk and jab with their beaks. Males are assumed to be dominant over females, adults over young birds. Adults have 12 calls and ducklings have 5. Most calls made by adults are warning calls or to attract mates. Males and females both have pre-flight calls, and females have calls for locating their mate and calling their ducklings. Ducklings can make calls at 2 to 3 days old, have alarm, threatening and contact calls.

Group name
badelynge, brace, bunch, flock, paddling, raft
Lifestyle
Semiaquatic, Shorebirds, Waterfowl, Precocial
Seasonal behavior
Partially migrant

Diet and Nutrition

These birds are omnivorous, but mainly eat vegetal matter, rice and water lentils. They also eat fruits, hazelnuts, aquatic plants and their seeds, invertebrates and aquatic insects.

Diet Omnivore

Mating Habits

MATING BEHAVIOR
Monogamy
REPRODUCTION SEASON
in the south: February to early March, in the north: mid-March to mid-April
INCUBATION PERIOD
1 month
INDEPENDENT AGE
56-70 days
FEMALE NAME
duck
MALE NAME
drake
BABY NAME
duckling
BABY CARRYING
6-15 eggs

This species is serially monogamous, with a male staying with one female during one breeding season but mating with a different female for the next year. A male uses his colorful plumage to attract a female, while a female uses a loud penetrating call when attracting males. There are several courtship displays, including mutual preening and a wing-and-tail-flash, when a male raises his wings and tail rapidly, showing his broadside to the female. When mating is over, males migrate to a different location to molt. These ducks breed in February to early March in the southern areas, where they may raise two broods per breeding season, while in the north it is mid-March to mid-April. They nest alone in a tree close to water, sometimes above. 6-15 whitish eggs are laid, incubated by the female for about one month, who then rears them on her own. The ducklings leave their nest around 24 hours after hatching. They begin to feed themselves as soon as they have left the nest, and after about 56-70 days old they are independent. Ducklings are mature when they are one year old.

Wood Duck family
Population Trend
Increasing
POPULATION STATUS
Least concern (LC)
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Population

Population threats

Due to habitat destruction and hunting, wood ducks were nearly extinct in the early 1900s. Today they are thriving, despite being hunted. The greatest threat is perhaps habitat degradation and loss, due to drainage of swamps and further human activities which destroy or alter forested wetlands.

Population number

According to the What Bird resource, the total population size of the Wood duck is around 3.5 million individuals. Currently this species is classified as Least Concern (LC) on the IUCN Red List and its numbers today are increasing.

Fun Facts for Kids

  • The scientific name of this bird, Aixsponsa, means “waterbird in bridal dress”, which refers to the showy breeding plumage of the male.
  • If a predator comes near the nest, the female makes her alarm call and her chicks run towards the water for protection, while their mother swims away from them, doing the “broken-wing” display in order to attract the predator.
  • More than 15 eggs are sometimes laid in the one nest because other females use a working nest, which then becomes a “communal nest”.
  • A group of ducks can be called "a flush of ducks", "a brace of ducks", "paddling of ducks", a "team of ducks" or a "raft of ducks",
  • After hatching, ducklings jump from their nest tree and head to water. Their mother calls to them, but does not offer any help. The ducklings can jump from more than 50 feet without injury.

References

1. Wood Duck Wikipedia article - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wood_duck
2. Wood Duck on The IUCN Red List site - http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/22680104/0

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