Mandarin duck
| Mandarin Duck | |
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| A pair of ducks in Switzerland | |
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| Aix galericulata (Linnaeus, 1758) | |
The mandarin duck (Aix galericulata) is a duck that breeds in eastern Siberia, China and Japan and winters in southern China and Japan. There is a small free-flying population in Britain which grew from the release of captive bred ducks.
Description
[change | change source]In full plumage, the male mandarin duck has a pair of "sail" feathers that are raised vertically above the back, a crest of orange and cream feathers, and a broad white eye-stripe that is bounded above and below by darker feathers. The female mandarin duck is duller in colour and has an overall grey appearance that is marked by a curving white stripe behind the eye and a series of white blotches on the underparts. In flight, both sexes display a bluish-green iridescent speculum.
Habitat
[change | change source]The mandarin duck lives in the forests of China and Japan. They prefer to live around wooded ponds and fast flowing rocky streams to swim, wade, and feed in.
