Wood Ducks - male and female.

Male (back) and female (front) wood ducks at Pitt Polder.

I don't get to see wood ducks very often, although they are present through much of the USA and the southern reaches of Canada.  Whatbird states that there are about 3.5 million individuals in existence today.  I have seen the species a dozen times in the last twenty years, and never got a good photograph of one, little lone a pair, until yesterday.

Wood ducks are cavity nesters.  They build a nest in the hole of a tree or a large enough birdhouse built especially for tree nesting ducks.  The young are brooded there and, soon after hatching, leave the nest.  Wood duck nests have been found over a mile away from water.  A chick may fall from a height of 50 feet and not hurt itself.  The parents escort them off to wetlands through peeping, where they will spend their fledging days until maturity.

I think wood ducks are one of my favourite birds.  The obvious reason for this penchant is the male's bold colouring.  There are also enough of them and their range is broad enough that I see them occasionally.  The fact that they use tree hollows just adds to the allure.  They are one of the few duck breeds to produce two broods a year.  Since I live near Vancouver, they are often year-round residents.

I used a Nikon D500 camera with a Tamron 150-600 mm lens zoomed out to maximum to capture the image.  ISO was 200 and shutter speed 1/320th of a second.  With vibration mitigation systems engaged there was little blur from camera drift.  I took 42 photos, some of just the male, but liked the above one the most.  The day was made even better in that my daughter was with me.

Thanks for reading.   www.ericspix.com   Eric Svendsen