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Wood Duck

Wood Duck

Aix sponsa

Least Concern

Quick Facts

Kingdom: Animalia
Abundance: Common
Habitat: Wetland
Activity: Diurnal (Active during day)
Lifespan: up to 15 years

A delicately proportioned and exquisitely colored duck with a swept-back crest on its head. The male is patterned in iridescent greens, purples, and blues with a red bill and a distinctive white chin patch and face stripes. The female is mottled gray with a broad white eye ring. Wood ducks are medium-sized and have long-clawed toes for perching in trees. When swimming, they bob their heads back and forth in a jerking motion, making them easy to spot. Wood Ducks breed in eastern North America and on the west coast of the U.S. and winter in the southern U.S. near the Atlantic coast. Hunted nearly to extinction in the early 1900’s, the wood duck has been restored to healthy populations by strong conservation efforts.

Diet

Wood ducks are omnivores feeding on nuts, fruits, aquatic plants and seeds, aquatic insects and other invertebrates.

Activity Pattern

Diurnal (Active during day)
Kingdom: Animalia
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Phylum: Chordata
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Class: Aves
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Order: Anseriformes
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Family: Anatidae
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Genus: Aix
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Species: Aix sponsa

Scientific Name

Aix sponsa
Breeding Season
February and early March in the south and mid-March to mid-April in the northern areas
Migration Pattern
Partially migratory, wood ducks in the northern part of the range migrate south in winter
Lifespan
up to 15 years

Behavior

Wood ducks are diurnal and with the exception of females with ducklings, they sleep on the water. They are social animals and often congregate in the evening and migrate in pairs or small flocks. Wood ducks feed by dabbling (feeding from the surface rather than diving underwater) or grazing on land.

Ecological Role

Wood ducks sometimes occupy Hooded Merganser (Lophodytes cucullatus) nests and when Hooded Merganser eggs are left in the nests, wood ducks incubate the merganser eggs as well as their own. Wood ducks are also important prey for their predators and act as predators themselves

Activity Pattern

Diurnal (Active during day)

Habitat Types

Wetland

Geographic Distribution

Wood Ducks are found on the east coast of North America from Nova Scotia in the north, to Florida and the Gulf of Mexico in the south, and west to the center of the United States. The birds are year-round residents in parts of its southern range, but the northern populations migrate south for the winter. Wood ducks are also found from British Columbia to the Mexican border on the west coast. They spend the winter in southern California and the Mexican Pacific coast.

Local Abundance

Common

Conservation Status

Least Concern

This species is widespread and abundant. No immediate threat to survival.

Threats & Impacts

As a result of hunting and habitat destruction A. sponsa was near extinction in the early nineteen hundreds. Today, despite the fact that they are hunted, their population is thriving. Hunting laws have been put into place to protect them and man-made nest boxes are being created to counter their loss of habitat.

How You Can Help

  • Report sightings to contribute to population monitoring
  • Support habitat conservation efforts
  • Follow guidelines when observing wildlife
No field notes or observations available for this species.

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