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Wood Ducks
Posted: Sun May 21, 2023 10:00 pm
by markiver54
I was sitting in my usual spot this morning having breakfast drinking my coffee and looking out the window. Something that caught me by surprise was a fairly large bird landing about 40 feet up in the pine tree across the street. Not uncommon to see hawks and crows out there, but this looked different. Looked like a duck?
I have never seen a duck in a tree, so this was very strange to me. I looked through my binoculars and sure enough, it was a duck. After some Google searching I learned about Wood Ducks.
Maybe some of you are very familiar with them...I dunno, but to me...seeing a duck land in a tree was a first.
Shortly after the first one, another arrived. They hung out for a few minutes, and then flew off together.

Wish I had the photography expertise of Clovishound and some of the others here.

Re: Wood Ducks
Posted: Sun May 21, 2023 10:20 pm
by fortyshooter
I had a pair of them nest down at my creek and I think they were in the trees. Haven't seen any others down there lately and I think it is due to all the dogs running loose around the area.
Re: Wood Ducks
Posted: Mon May 22, 2023 8:42 am
by clovishound
I love the wood ducks. And, yes, they will spend time in trees.

- _DAB4617.jpg (1.18 MiB) Viewed 755 times
They are also very shy, and getting close enough to them to photograph is tough.
Re: Wood Ducks
Posted: Mon May 22, 2023 9:11 am
by markiver54
Interesting. I think the one that was most visible to me must have been a female, because it was not that colorful.
Re: Wood Ducks
Posted: Mon May 22, 2023 9:59 am
by Hatchdog
One of the most beautiful birds in my opinion. Sadly I have never seen one in person but other than duck hunting (mallards) I’ve not put any effort into finding some to see. They are here and there around this part of the country but pretty scarce. It’s great that you had the experience of seeing them and being able to get the binoculars on them.
Re: Wood Ducks
Posted: Mon May 22, 2023 10:54 am
by BigAl52
They are really cool and beautiful birds.
Re: Wood Ducks
Posted: Mon May 22, 2023 11:20 am
by brm4450
Out here in game production area they will build elevated (on posts) nest platforms. I’ve seen them in those nests and in trees.
Re: Wood Ducks
Posted: Mon May 22, 2023 11:38 am
by clovishound
markiver54 wrote: ↑Mon May 22, 2023 9:11 am
Interesting. I think the one that was most visible to me must have been a female, because it was not that colorful.
Here are male and female next to each other.

- _DAB6912-gigapixel-low_res-scale-2_00x-cropped.jpg (955.55 KiB) Viewed 742 times

- _DAB6920-gigapixel-art-scale-2_00x-cropped.jpg (799.59 KiB) Viewed 742 times
Re: Wood Ducks
Posted: Mon May 22, 2023 12:20 pm
by markiver54
Thanks for the pics. Yup, it was a female that I was able to see more clearly. They ARE beautiful birds.