General

Wood Duck: Small tree duck with brown back, white throat, and purple-brown breast with white flecks grading to a white belly; flanks are buff-yellow. Crested head is green and purple with white stripes; throat is white with two bars, one extending as a partial collar, the other extending behind and below the red eyes. Bill is brightly patterned black, white, and red. Legs and feet are dull yellow. Female is much duller with gray-brown head, neck, and breast, white-spotted flanks, weak crest, dark eyes surrounded by a large, white teardrop-shaped patch, white belly and blue-gray bill. Juvenile resembles female but is grayer overall with scaled underparts, has darker, spotted belly, and white eyebrows and dark eye-lines. Eclipse male resembles female but retains bright bill, red eyes, and white throat patches.

Range and Habitat

Wood Duck: Breeds across most of central and eastern U.S. and southeastern Canada and along the Pacific coast from California to British Columbia. Preferred habitats include wooded swamps and freshwater marshes.

Listen to Call

Voice Text

"jeeeeee"

Interesting Facts

 The Wood Duck was hunted nearly to extinction during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Management procedures have been successful and there are now well over a million Wood Ducks in North America.

 Wood Duck young leave the nest soon after hatching. They jump from the nesting cavity, often high up in a tree, to the ground or water.

 The Wood Duck is a distinctively North American species, as fossil remains have been found only in widely scattered locations in the eastern part of the continent.

 A group of ducks has many collective nouns, including "a brace of ducks", "flush of ducks", "paddling of ducks", "raft of ducks", and a "team of ducks."

Author

Gary Owen Dick