Mandarin Duck

Description:

The Mandarin Duck is a medium-sized, East Asian perching duck. The male has bold colors and unusual feather shapes. It has a red bill, large white crescent above the eye and reddish face. The breast is purple with two vertical white bars. The female is similar to female Wood Duck, with a white eye-ring and stripe running back from the eye, but is paler and has a small white flank stripe. The Mandarin ducklings are almost identical in look to Wood ducklings, and appear very similar to Mallard ducklings. They mainly eat plants and seeds

Habitat:

The species was once widespread in eastern Asia, but large-scale exports and the destruction of its forest habitat have reduced populations.

Notes:

This picture was taken at the National Zoo in Washington DC