Overview

Unless you are on the lookout for this handsome bird, you may hear rather than see it as it flies off quickly through the woods, crying weep, weep. Wood Duck (Aix sponsa) or Carolina duck females nest in tree cavities or man-made nest boxes.

Up to 15 eggs are laid on a bed of white down and incubated by the female for about four weeks. Soon after hatching, the ducklings jump from the nest hole in response to the call of their mother. If the nesting tree in an upland area, she then leads her brood to water.

Wood Ducks are not the only tree-nesting ducks. Buffleheads, hooded mergansers, goldeneyes, and several kinds of whistling (tree) ducks also nest in tree cavities.