| Wood Duck Identification Tips |
| (Credit: U. S. Geological Survey) |
| General
Information - A medium-sized duck with a long crest on head - Long-winged and long-tailed - Blue-green speculum with white rear border Adult male alternate - Alternate plumage worn from Fall-through early summer - Red bill - Red eye - Green head - Striking white stripes about face and crest with a large white throat patch and "fingerlike" extensions onto cheek and neck - Chestnut breast and neck with vertical white stripe at lower margin - Golden flanks bordered above by a white flank stripe - White belly - Iridescent dark green-blue back and wings Adult male basic - In basic plumage, the male resembles the female, but often retains the distinctive neck patch and red bill Adult female - Gray bill - White teardrop shaped patch around eye - White throat - Gray-brown head and neck - Gray-brown breast stippled with white and fading to a white belly - Dark brown back Juvenal plumage - Gray bill - Female similar to adult female - Males similar to adult females, but with white neck patch Similar species Adult male is unmistakable. Female, immature and eclipse males are nondescript, but distinctive in face pattern, shape and speculum pattern. |
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