Wood Duck
The Wood Duck is one of the most colourful North American waterfowl. A typical adult is about 19 to 21 inches in length with a wingspan of between 26 to 29 inches. This is about three-quarters of the length of an adult Mallard. The adult male has distinctive multicolored iridescent plumage and red eyes with a distinctive white flare down the neck. The female is less colorful and has a white eye-ring and a whitish throat. Both adults have crested heads.
The Wood Duck is a year-round resident in parts of its southern range in the USA but the northern populations migrate south for the winter where it overwinters in the southern USA near the Atlantic coast.
The Wood Duck is also popular, due to its attractive plumage, in waterfowl collections and as such it is frequently recorded in the UK as an escape. Populations have become temporarily established in the past but are not considered to be self-sustaining in the fashion of the closely related Mandarin. Given its native distribution the Wood Duck is also a potential natural vagrant to western Europe and there have been records in areas such as Cornwall, Scotland and the Isles of Scilly which some observers consider may relate to wild birds. However, given the Wood Duck's popularity in captivity it would be extremely difficult to prove their provenance one way or the other.
The Wood Duck’s breeding habitat is wooded swamps, shallow lakes, marshes or ponds and creeks in eastern North America, the west coast of the USA and west Mexico. It usually nests in cavities in trees close to water although they will take advantage of nesting boxes in wetland locations if available.
The Wood Duck feeds by dabbling or walking on land where it mainly eats berries, acorns and seeds but also insects.
The population of the Wood Duck was in serious decline in the late 19th century due to severe habitat loss and hunting both for its meat and its plumage for the ladies' hat market in Europe. By the beginning of the 20th century it had virtually disappeared from much of its former range. In response to the enactment of the USA Migratory Bird Treaty Act 1918, the population began to recover slowly. By ending unregulated hunting and taking measures to protect remaining habitat, Wood Duck populations began to rebound in the 1920s and the development of the artificial nesting box in the 1930s gave an additional boost. Expanding Beaver populations throughout the Wood duck's range have also helped the population rebound since Beavers create an ideal forested wetland habitat.
This bird was part of the captive collection at the WWT London Wetland Centre.
Date: 19th April 2017
Location: WWT London Wetland Centre, Barnes, Greater London
The Wood Duck is a year-round resident in parts of its southern range in the USA but the northern populations migrate south for the winter where it overwinters in the southern USA near the Atlantic coast.
The Wood Duck is also popular, due to its attractive plumage, in waterfowl collections and as such it is frequently recorded in the UK as an escape. Populations have become temporarily established in the past but are not considered to be self-sustaining in the fashion of the closely related Mandarin. Given its native distribution the Wood Duck is also a potential natural vagrant to western Europe and there have been records in areas such as Cornwall, Scotland and the Isles of Scilly which some observers consider may relate to wild birds. However, given the Wood Duck's popularity in captivity it would be extremely difficult to prove their provenance one way or the other.
The Wood Duck’s breeding habitat is wooded swamps, shallow lakes, marshes or ponds and creeks in eastern North America, the west coast of the USA and west Mexico. It usually nests in cavities in trees close to water although they will take advantage of nesting boxes in wetland locations if available.
The Wood Duck feeds by dabbling or walking on land where it mainly eats berries, acorns and seeds but also insects.
The population of the Wood Duck was in serious decline in the late 19th century due to severe habitat loss and hunting both for its meat and its plumage for the ladies' hat market in Europe. By the beginning of the 20th century it had virtually disappeared from much of its former range. In response to the enactment of the USA Migratory Bird Treaty Act 1918, the population began to recover slowly. By ending unregulated hunting and taking measures to protect remaining habitat, Wood Duck populations began to rebound in the 1920s and the development of the artificial nesting box in the 1930s gave an additional boost. Expanding Beaver populations throughout the Wood duck's range have also helped the population rebound since Beavers create an ideal forested wetland habitat.
This bird was part of the captive collection at the WWT London Wetland Centre.
Date: 19th April 2017
Location: WWT London Wetland Centre, Barnes, Greater London
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Also in: Dabbling ducks
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