Wood Duck Nests, Eggs & Baby Birds

Nests, Eggs & Baby Birds

"Wood Duck"

	Wood Duck "hen on eggs" Photograph by © Ski S. Diverscreek Waterfowl
	Wood Duck "newly hatched ducklings" Photograph by © Ski S. Diverscreek Waterfowl
	Wood Duck "ducklings" Photograph by © Ian Gereg
	Wood Duck & Jungle Fowl "ducklings" Photograph by © Ray Desjardins
	Wood Duck "family" Photograph by © Ian Gereg

Juvenile: It resembles the female.

Nest: Cavity; female lines old woodpecker cavity, 1 brood per year. Female will lay eggs in a neighboring female nest (egg dumping), resulting in some clutches in excess of 20 eggs. It is one of the few ducks to roost high up in trees...with its nest up to 50 feet above the ground...lining a cavity in the tree with soft down. It will also use nesting boxes. Young will remain in nest cavity only 24 hours after hatching, then jump from up to 30 feet to the ground or water to follow their mother, never returning to the nest.

Eggs: 10-15; creamy white, unmarked.

Incubation: 28-36 days

Fledging: 56-68 days; female teaches young to feed

Food: Aquatic insects, nuts, fruit, plants, seeds, frogs, minnows. It feeds on the surface of the water, eating mostly aquatic plants like duckweed.

Habitat: Wooded swamps, rivers.

More about Wood Ducks:
"Wood Duck"