Wood Duck

Aix sponsa

First photographed: July 24, 2026
First location: Colorado, United States
Conservation status: Least Concern

Female wood duck perched on a fallen tree over a pond in Oak Hill, Tennessee.

An evolving study

Wood Duck portfolio

This collection grows as I return to photograph new behavior, habitat, seasons, and stages of life.

Natural history

Species at a glance

Aix sponsa

Overview

The Wood Duck is a cavity-nesting duck of wooded wetlands. Newly hatched ducklings leap from elevated nest holes to the ground or water, guided by the female's calls.

Identification

Adult males are ornate with an iridescent green crested head, white facial stripes, red eye, chestnut breast, and patterned flanks. Females are gray-brown with a distinctive white teardrop-shaped eye ring and blue wing patch.

Range

Breeds across much of the eastern United States and southern Canada and locally in the Pacific states and interior West. Northern birds migrate to the southern United States and Mexico.

Habitat

Wooded swamps, beaver ponds, slow rivers, forested lake edges, oxbows, and wetlands with tree cavities or nest boxes.

Diet

Acorns, seeds, fruit, aquatic plants, insects, crustaceans, and other aquatic invertebrates.

Photography by Brittany Templin

Bring the story of the Wood Duck into your project or space.

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Overview

Identification

Range

Habitat

Diet

Order

Family

Regions documented

Bring the story of the Wood Duck into your project or space.

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