Wood Duck
The North American Wood Duck, also known as the Carolina duck, swamp duck, squealer suck and summer duck, is well known in aviculture and in the wild. Many of us simply refer to it as the woodie, but by any name, this duck is the most ornamental of all North American species. The Wood Duck was hunted to near extinction during the 18th Century for their flesh and feathers. Thanks to a massive conservation effort, the woodie has made a complete recovery and now breeds in 38 of the lower 48 states and in 8 Canadian provinces. Many private citizens chipped in to save the wood duck by placing artifical nest boxes in their wetland habitat that had been cleared of trees needed for nesting. Like the Mandarin, they were introduced to the Great Britian, but didn't do as successful. The drakes are the most vividly colored of all North American ducks. The head and crest are metallic green & purple, with a white line extending from the base of the bill above the eye and another behind the eye along the crest; the throat and neck are also white. The breast is chestnut with white flecks, and the lower breast and underparts are white. The mantle and wings are metallic blue and green; sides are buff, finely vermiculated with black. His bill is red, with a yellow band at the base and a black line above the nostrils to the tip. Legs and feet dark yellow. The hen is mostly bownish-olive overall, with white streaks on the breast and white eye ring and line surrounding the bill. Her bill is much duller than the drakes, being dark gray; the legs and feet same as the male.
