The Wood Duck

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The Wood Duck is a small to medium size dabbling duck measuring 19 inches in length. The adult male has red eyes and a distinctive orange beak with a black tip, and multi-colored iridescent plumage. Their head is streaked with green, white, and brown, and they had a distinctive white patch on their cheek. The breast feathers are dark brown with white spots and they have iridescent blue-green feathers on their back. The male Wood Duck is easily spotted and easily identified.

The female is brown with white stripes on her breast and a small blue spot on her wing. The dark beak, white throat and eye patches add to the overall camouflage pattern. Hidden within the reeds and grasses along the shoreline, the female is difficult to spot. Both adults have crested heads which is not always noticeable. Juveniles resemble the females, as do non-breeding males.

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The Wood Duck inhabits wooded wetlands, slow-moving tree lined rivers, marshes and ponds along the eastern and western coasts of the United States and Mexico. They prefer habitats with deciduous trees, and tend to shy away from human interaction. They are rarely seen along coastal waterways.

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The Wood Duck are cavity nesters. The most common natural cavities used are abandoned woodpecker holes, but will use artificial nest boxes. They line the cavity with down before the female lays her eggs. The usual clutch size is 9 to 14 eggs and they are incubated for 25 to 35 days. Once the female starts incubating the eggs, the pair split up. The male Wood Duck joins other males and finds a secluded spot and starts their annual molt. The female molts while still tending her young.

Less than 24 hours after hatching, the young leap from the nest to the ground or the water. They can swim and feed themselves right from the start but the female will tend them for another 5 or 6 weeks before abandoning them. Not yet able to fly, the young are on their own. At 8 to 9 weeks of age they gain their wings and fly.

While aquatic plant seeds make up a majority of their diet, the Wood Duck is an omnivore. They will eat aquatic invertebrates as well as insects such as beetles, dragonflies and grasshoppers. They will forage on land for seeds, wander through grain fields, and search berries and other fruits growing close to the ground. When residing in areas with oak trees, acorns are a major part of their diet.

The female Wood Duck's voice is a shrill who-eek, who-eek, who-eek. The male's is a less distinctive squeak.

Listen to the call of the Wood Duck: Sound Byte: The Wood Duck, National Park Service

There was a serious decline in the number of Wood Duck during the late 19th Century due to habitat loss and over-hunting. They were on the verge of extinction early in the 20th Century. They came under the protection of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act in 1918. Changes in the gaming laws and initiatives to provide nest boxes has made a difference. The population of wood ducks has reached to sustainable numbers.

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