Extension for Real Life

What are Wood Ducks?

The wood duck, sometimes called “the bird of the shadows,” is the state duck of Mississippi.

The wood duck earned this mysterious moniker by hiding in heavy cover. These ducks usually nest in cavities near water with heavy vegetation and low-hanging bushes. The wood duck has large eyes, permitting it to see well in these shadowy environments. Hiding away in these nesting cavities gives them a safe space for the female wood ducks to raise broods of ducklings.

However, if a natural cavity is not available, the wood duck is happy to use man-made nesting boxes. The wood duck’s numbers were once critically low, but efforts such as providing nesting boxes have brought them back from the brink of extinction to sustainable levels.

Wood ducks are recognizable by their head crests and dark, square tails visible in flight. Male wood ducks have a white throat and chin strap marking, as well as bright green and purple feathers. Female wood ducks are brown with a white throat patch and a striking white eye ring. They are usually about 1 ½ pounds when mature. Young ducks eat insects, but mature wood ducks are mainly vegetarian, eating plants such as duckweed, dogwood, and wild rice. They are also known to enjoy aquatic invertebrates.

A good way to help the wood duck population grow is to plant brown-top and Japanese millets in wetlands. These habitats will attract not only wood ducks, but other waterfowl as well. Further, you can build a nest box for them to raise their families. To find out more about nest box building, be sure to visit this publication.

For more information on wood ducks, check out the following MSU publications:

• “Wood Ducks in Mississippi”
• “Wood Duck Broods in Dixie: Striving to Survive Early Life” provides information on nest box placement to improve duckling survival.