A worldwide community photographing and learning about wildlife
Aix sponsa
Juvenile males look very similar to female wood ducks. However, the juvenile males do have bright reddish-brown eyes and white markings on their face, similar to mature males. Overall, they are gray-brown with a white-speckled breast.
On a very green pond at Fairfield Audubon
4 Comments
Thank you Jellis!
This is an immature male Wood duck
Thanks Donna. I'm still not sure about this one - it has a reddish eye and a white pattern on the face like a male would, but it has the overall coloring of a female. That's why I thought maybe it was a juvenile male? Or maybe a male with eclipse plumage. I've only seen adult male and female wood ducks before, and this didn't quite match with what I've seen in the past, but I'm certainly not an expert...
female wood duck. males are much more colorful