Wood Duck

Aix sponsa

A most distinctive and easily recognizable bird due to its unique coloring and silhouette, the male Wood Duck appears almost like a painted decoy thanks to its bold coloring. The shape of the head is similar to that of a hammer head, with long feathers drooping down from the back. They have strong claws on their webbed feet which allows them to grip the bark and perch on branches. This duck is unique in that it nests in existing tree cavities, sometimes as high up as 50 feet, preferring trees near or over water. The newly hatched ducklings are forced to leap down from the nest as there is no available food and the mother does not feed them. Once on the ground, they gather together and follow the mother to find food. The males do not help incubate the eggs or take part in raising the young.

In the 19th century hunting and the destruction of bottomland hardwood forests nearly drove Wood Ducks to extinction. However the passing of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act in 1918, along with the placement of wooden boxes to encourage nesting, led to the population increasing to stable numbers.