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The Wood Duck, to many the most spectacular in the Algonquin Highlands, is a beautiful crested, multi-coloured duck. Males are patterned with iridescent greens, purples, and blues. They have white chin and eye stripes, a long tail, red eyes and a red bill. Females are much more drab, with a greyish pattern and a white eye ring. They do have some small patches of colour. Females produce a loud, “wooo-eeek” sound, while males have a softer “jeee” or “ter-weeeee”.
Since they nest in large tree cavities which are hard to find, nest are not always close to water, sometimes as far as 500 metres away, as well as 15 metres off of the ground. Females lay 10 to 15 whitish or tan eggs in a nest of down. Baby Wood Ducks will penetrate the air space of the egg a few days before actually hatching, enabling them to hear each other as well as their mother. They learn the sound of her voice, which is very important to them later on. Through this communication they will somehow all hatch within a few hours of one another and, responding from a signal from their mother, jump down out of the nest. Once gathered, they will then travel on foot to the beaver pond with their mother, following the sound of her voice. These amazing young sometimes suffer the heavy consequence of death when facing predators like the snapping turtle before they can reach the safety of the pond.
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WOOD DUCK
Aix sponsa
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