Bird Lore: Wood Duck

wood_duck_drake wood_duck_hen

How can anyone dressed to the nines be so shy and retiring? If the Wood Duck drake could talk, perhaps he would explain himself. You can see in LeRoy’s first photo that the male shows off deeply saturated, multicolored plumage. He is difficult to miss when he is in the open. The hen’s plumage is more subdued but still is colorful if you look twice.

Although it is common across North America, the Wood Duck is somewhat rare in Edmonds because the city has little of its preferred habitat. This duck favors slow-moving streams with overhanging vegetation, mature hardwood swamps, forested ponds, and freshwater marshes with heavy vegetation. Overhanging trees create the shady conditions this duck seeks.

The Wood Duck probably shows up on Willow Creek more often than it is seen. Sections of the creek preferred by this duck would not be visible from the marsh observation platforms. Lake Ballinger, which is shared by Edmonds and Mountlake Terrace, has sections of shoreline that occasionally host this duck, but they are within Mountlake Terrace. The ponds of Pine Ridge Park, and particularly their connecting marsh, may be the best habitat within the city. Currently, at least five Wood Ducks (three drakes and two hens) are playing peekaboo in that freshwater marsh. The best way to view them is to go alone and stand quietly along the shore. This is a typical size (6 -20) for a group of this species outside of breeding season.

Diet consists of aquatic plants and their seeds, as well as insects and crustaceans. The Wood Duck will come into fields to forage on waste grain. In winter in Eastern Washington, it is not unusual to see large numbers around small town grain elevators where they can also forage on waste grain if it is available. The Wood Duck forages on water by taking food from the surface or submerging its head and neck. It will occasionally upend itself as do dabbling ducks.

Nest sites are in large-tree cavities near water or in nest boxes. The female lays 9-14 eggs in a cavity lined with down. She incubates the eggs for 25-35 days. The young stay in the nest only until the morning after hatching. They then approach the edge of the cavity or nest box and jump to the ground. This can be a 65-foot plunge from the highest nest sites. The hen tends the young for five to six weeks. The young are capable of flight at about two months of age.

The Wood Duck does not usually mix with other species. Its closest relative is the Mandarin Duck of East Asia. It was threatened with extinction in the early 20th century, due to loss of the large trees it required for nest cavities and hunting pressure. The Wood Duck now has legal protection and artificial nest boxes across the country that have helped the population recover.

You can listen to the call of a Wood Duck hen at this site: https://www.xeno-canto.org/182950.

— By Carol Riddell

Carol Riddell manages the bird education displays, on behalf of Pilchuck Audubon Society and Edmonds Parks & Recreation, at the Olympic Beach Visitor Station.

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