The male Wood Duck is the most beautiful of North American ducks. His eyes are bright red, his crested head a dark iridescent green and purple with a white strip across his head and around his neck.
His bill is a multicolored pattern of red, yellow, black & white.
White speckles adorn his burgundy chest.
The female mostly brown has a distinctive white teardrop-shaped eye patch.
The Wood Duck earned its name from its favored habitat: wooded wetlands with calm shallow water. It is North America's only perching duck.
The immature male Wood Duck has a white ring around his neck.

Updated July 17 2010