The Wood
Duck is a well known and common Australian duck which has done well as a result
of human development both in agricultural lands and in urban settings,
especially around parklands, golf courses and so on where water is present in
the form of farm dams or urban ponds.
Wood Duck
are vegetarian grazers, mostly feeding by night on grassed areas and resting by
day near water, particular on dam banks or in urban parks near water, where
they are relatively visible to us. They can also be found on water and will
upend in shallow water to graze on submerged aquatic vegetation. As a result of
being common and familiar I suspect this duck is to some extent subconsciously down
graded in value and their beauty overlooked.
In the wild,
like all other ducks, Woodies are shy and hard to approach, however in urban
settings they can become quite tame and accordingly very approachable. We
camped in the foreshore caravan park at Mallacoota for a few days just before
Easter where a party of seven Wood Ducks shared our camp area each day.
On our last
day the antics of our fellow campers finally moved me to get the camera out and
take a few photos of the Wood Ducks at close range from a camp chair by the
van.
Click on photos to enlarge.
|
Male
Australian Wood Duck |
|
Typical
sleeping position (of all ducks and many other bird species) standing on one
leg with bill buried in the back feathers. |
|
Young
male Wood Duck still showing some light feathers about the head and around the
eye |
|
Sleeping/resting was interrupted by preening sessions. |
|
Female
Wood Duck |
|
Female
Wood Duck – note the white lines/stripes above and below the eye. |
|
The
Wood Duck is also called a Maned Duck or Goose due to their similar appearance
to a small goose – however they are definitely ducks and not geese. This
alternative name comes from the black mane on the nape of male Wood Ducks. |
|
Another view of the mane which was erected when two males had a brief encounter
which looked like a squabble or assertion of dominance perhaps. |
Until this
session with the Woodies I had not noticed the mane which is usually held in
and therefore not apparent, especially at long range.
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