Wood Duck

The Wood Duck is one of the most colorful ducks in North America and without a doubt the most beautiful of waterfowl. Its scientific name Aix sponsa already translates the beauty of its plumage as a waterfowl in a wedding dress. Sexual dimorphism during the mating season is very strong. At this time, the male's head is adorned with a multitude of electric reflections, deep blue and dark green on the top going towards purple on the nape. This same purple color is also found on the eye stripes and cheeks. The area of the ear coverts is rather black. These iridescent colors emphasize the intense red of the eye as well as the orange-red orbital circle. The head is finely marked with rounded white lines. A first part of the lores passes above the eyes and extends to the nape. A second, shorter one, starts from the back of the eyes and follows the first one in parallel until it also ends on the nape. From the chin and throat, both white, start two short, rounded white bands. One starts from the mandibles and comes up to the eyes encompassing the cheeks, the other, under the cheeks and goes up to the nape. The beak is red sideways, pink on top with a black line on the culmen, the nail is black and the base of the mandibles is yellow. The neck is marked with a large black line. The chest is a brownish-purple dotted with small white marks on the center. The flanks are ocher pale to gray. Vertical black and white bars separate the flanks from the sides of the chest. The belly and lower belly are white. The femoral area is purple. The back, shoulder blades, rump, upper coverts, lower coverts, and tail are black. The great and medium coverts are dark with blue reflections with black tips. The great primary coverts are gray-brown. The secondaries, i.e. the mirror, have blue reflections.The trailing edge is white. The legs and feet are blackish-yellow. The eclipse male resembles the female but has a different bill colour.
The female is duller, overall a weakly speckled grey-brown. The head is grey with a white throat. A white spot forming a drop pointed backwards surround the eye. A white line surrounds the base of the bill that stands out against the yellow mandibles. The bill is dark grey, the nail and culmen are blackish. The tomium is pale pink. The brown eye has a yellow orbital ring. The chest and flanks are brown speckled with yellow fawn. The belly and lower belly are white. The rest of the body is brown with golden reflections. The wings are partially the same as the male's but with wider trailing edges. The legs are brownish-yellow like the male's. In both sexes the head is crowned with a crest that falls onto the neck and the tail is rectangular.
The juvenile resembles the female but even duller. The head's pattern is less defined and the cap is light brown. The eye is pale brown surrounded by an indistinct pale white orbital ring. The bill is brown, the tomium like the female's.
The chick is dark brown on the top and pale yellow underneath. It has small white spots on the wings, the bill is blue, the legs are black.
The Wood Duck cannot be confused with another species, however the female and juvenile resemble those of the Mandarin Duck which can be found in the wild in the Wood Duck's range.