Mandarin Duck

The Mandarin Duck is the East Asian counterpart and closest relative of the Wood Duck, and is often considered the most spectacularly plumaged duck in the world. The breeding drake displays an extraordinary combination of features: a broad, multicolored crest sweeping back from the head, bold white eyebrow stripes, orange "whiskers" on the cheeks, and a pair of large, upright orange "sail" feathers rising from the back near the folded wings.

Females are far plainer, mottled gray-brown with a white eye-ring and stripe trailing back from the eye, similar in general pattern to a female Wood Duck. The species is native to East Asia but is also widely kept in captivity worldwide, leading to established feral populations in parts of Europe and North America.

Key Field Marks

• Breeding drake: multicolored fan-like crest, white eyebrow stripe, orange cheek whiskers, purple breast, upright orange "sail" feathers on the back
• Female: gray-brown with a white eye-ring and trailing eye-stripe, small crest
• Both sexes: relatively small, compact duck shape similar to Wood Duck

Similar Species

The Wood Duck is the closest relative and most similar species; male Wood Ducks lack the Mandarin's orange sail feathers and cheek whiskers and instead show an all-iridescent green-and-purple head with a red eye. Female Mandarin and Wood Ducks are very similar and best separated by subtle eye-ring shape and range/context.

Mandarin Ducks are native to forested wetlands, ponds, and slow rivers of eastern Asia, including China, Korea, Japan, and the Russian Far East, where northern populations migrate south for winter. The species nests in tree cavities near water, much like the Wood Duck.

Due to widespread ornamental captive-keeping, feral breeding populations have become established in parts of Western Europe (notably the United Kingdom) and, more locally, in North America, where escaped or released birds occasionally breed in the wild.

Mandarin Ducks forage by dabbling in shallow water and walking on land, eating seeds, acorns, grain, and aquatic invertebrates, similar in habits to the Wood Duck. They are agile perchers, comfortable moving among tree branches near their nesting cavities.

The male's calls include soft whistles and a variety of quiet notes used during courtship displays, which involve elaborate posturing that shows off the ornate plumage, including the raised sail feathers. Like the Wood Duck, females nest in tree cavities and lead ducklings to water shortly after they hatch and leap from the nest entrance.