How to Identify a Wood Duck

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What Does a Wood Duck Look Like?

No duck gets bird-watchers as excited as the stunningly patterned wood duck.

Scientific Name: Aix sponsa
Family: Duck
Length: 18 inches
Wingspan: 29 inches

The male wood duck has an iridescent “slicked-back” crest, red eyes, a bill striped with yellow, red, white and black, a bright-white “bridle” and boldly colored feathers on its body and wings.

A female wood duck is an overall gray with some blue and purple wing markings, a white eye ring, brown eyes and a duller bill.

During courtship, a male wood duck raises its regal crest, containing hundreds of tiny feathers, by flexing muscles on top of its head.

After the breeding season, the males lose their fanciful coloring for the duller eclipse plumage, which helps them hide from predators during the time that they are flightless from molting.

Check out more types of ducks to look for in spring.

Nest and Eggs

male and female wood ducks — Wood ducks, both male and female, have blue and white wing plumage.

A wood duck selects a natural cavity or a nest box, sometimes up to a mile away from water. If you live near water, put up a nest box and you may attract wood ducks to your yard. Make sure it has a 4-inch x 3-inch elliptical entrance and is 10 to 30 feet above the ground or 5 to 6 feet above water. The female lays 10 to 12 dull-white eggs.

278177969 1 Sue Clark Bnb Byc 2021 — When the ducklings are ready to leave the nest, built in a tree near water, the mother calls to them and they jump down from the nest.

Young wood ducks can safely exit nests up to 70 feet in the air.

Thanks in part to bird lovers putting up suitable nest boxes for them, the wood duck population has rebounded in recent decades.

Learn all about the common mallard duck.

What Do Wood Ducks Eat?

353592280 1 Mark Reinig Bnb Pc 2023 1 — These birds primarily eat plant material.

Wood ducks eat aquatic plants, acorns, beechnuts, grapes and berries, as well as a few insects. In backyards, they may eat cracked corn, millet or other grains.

What foods can you feed to ducks?

Bird Song

Listen to the wood duck’s song. Their voice is thin, squeaky whistles. Male uses a drawn-out “jeweeep” call, while females utter a loud “hoo-eek.”

Bird songs provided by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

Range Map and Habitat

Males have bright and beautiful plumage, but they are actually quite elusive. They like to hide deep in thickets.

Look for wood ducks in small lakes, slow-moving rivers, and ponds created by beavers. The ducks are less likely to be found in open water.

They will nest in parks or wooded backyards near a water source.

Wood Duck Bird Species

Range maps provided by Kaufman Field Guides, the official field guide of Birds & Blooms.

Sources

All About Birds – wood duck
Project Nestwatch – wood duck

Author

Jill Staake

During the 14 years she's written for Birds & Blooms, Jill Staake has relied on the expertise gained during her time as Assistant Curator of outdoor exhibits at the Museum of Science & Industry, Tampa. There, she helped grow gardens full of host and nectar plants for more than 20 species of native butterflies, raised from caterpillars to sh...