Identification & Description:
• Medium-sized duck.
• A medium-sized duck with a long crest on head
• Long-winged and long-tailed
• Blue-green speculum with white rear border
• White patches in face.
• Size: 47-54 cm (19-21 in)
• Wingspan: 66-73 cm (26-29 in)
• Weight: 454-862 g (16.03-30.43 ounces)

Adult male alternate:
• Alternate plumage worn from Fall-through early summer
• Red bill
• Red eye
• Green head
• Striking white stripes about face and crest with a large white throat patch and “fingerlike” extensions onto cheek and neck
• Chestnut breast and neck with vertical white stripe at lower margin
• Golden flanks bordered above by a white flank stripe
• White belly
• Iridescent dark green-blue back and wings

Adult male basic:
• In basic plumage, the male resembles the female, but often retains the distinctive neck patch and red bill

Adult female:
• Gray bill
• White teardrop shaped patch around eye
• White throat
• Gray-brown head and neck
• Gray-brown breast stippled with white and fading to a white belly
• Dark brown back

Juvenal plumage:
• Gray bill
• Female similar to adult female
• Males similar to adult females, but with white neck patch

Similar species:
Adult male is unmistakable. Female, immature and eclipse males are nondescript, but distinctive in face pattern, shape and speculum pattern.

Life History Groupings
• Breeding Habitat: Wetland-open water
• Nest Type: Cavity
• Clutch Size: 8-15
• Length of Incubation: 28-37 days
• Days to Fledge: 56-70
• Number of Broods: 1, occasionally 2, especially in south
• Diet:
Primarily: Seeds, Fruit, Nuts & Green Plant Matter
Lesser Quantities of: Insects & Aquatic Invertebrates

Facts
• Natural cavities for nesting are scarce, and the Wood Duck readily uses nest boxes provided for it. If nest boxes are placed too close together, many females lay eggs in the nests of other females. These “dump” nests can have up to 40 eggs.

• The Wood Duck nests in trees near water, sometimes directly over water, but other times up to 2 km (1.2 mi) away. After hatching, the ducklings jump down from the nest tree and make their way to water. The mother calls them to her, but does not help them in any way. The ducklings may jump from heights of up to 89 m (290 ft) without injury.

• The Wood Duck is a popular game bird, and is second only to the Mallard in numbers shot each year in the United States.

• Wood Ducks pair up in January, and most birds arriving at the breeding grounds in the spring are already paired. The Wood Duck is the only North American duck that regularly produces two broods in one year.

Other Names
Canard branchu (French)
Pato de charreteras (Spanish)

The wood duck is a member of the duck family, Anatidae, in the order Anseriformes, and is classified as Aix sponsa.

Wood Duck, common name for a colorful duck found in southern Canada, the eastern and northwestern United States, and Mexico. It lives in diverse freshwater habitats including woodland ponds, swamps, marshes, lakes, slow moving rivers, and forested wetlands. The northernmost populations migrate south in the winter.

The wood duck has a short neck and a long square tail and ranges from 43 to 51 cm (17 to 24 in) in length. Its colors are among the most beautiful of North American birds. The male’s plumage includes a burgundy red chest and neck and an iridescent green back. He has red eyes and a dark head striped with unusual patterns of white. His downwardly angled beak has patterns of yellow, black, red, and white. The female has white eye patches and is not as colorful as the male, however, she is more colorful than females of other duck species. The juvenile plumage is similar to that of the female.

The diet of the wood duck varies by season but mostly consists of seeds from aquatic plants. In the fall and winter it feeds on plant materials, including wild rice, pond weeds, and acorns. In spring and summer it feeds on insects such as beetles, mayflies, and locusts, and also snails, tadpoles, crustaceans, small fish, and amphibians. It forages while swimming in shallow water or while walking on the ground.

The male shows off his colorful plumage during courtship. The wood duck is one of the only ducks that typically nests in a tree hole. It will also readily use human-made wooden shelters, called nest boxes. Male wood ducks do not participate in the nesting or in the rearing of the young. After mating, the male migrates to a separate area to molt into new feathers. During this time he becomes flightless and has to hide from predators. The female goes through her molt after rearing the young.

The female wood duck lines the nest hole using her own down feathers. She incubates, or warms, the 9 to 15 dull white eggs by sitting on them for 25 to 35 days until they hatch. The morning after hatching, the young ducklings climb out of the nest hole and leap to the ground. The female continues to care for them for five to six weeks. The young first fly about eight to nine weeks after hatching.

During the early 1900s, overhunting and destruction of nesting sites drove the wood duck almost to extinction. Beginning in 1918, protective laws were enacted that helped the population to recover. The widespread construction of nest boxes also helped in the recovery. The wood duck population is currently strong but vulnerable to loss of its remaining habitat.