WOOD DUCK
PR

This is the most colorful of all ducks. He is not a conservative dresser like the pintail whose colors blend so beautifully or the black duck with somber coat of black and brown offset by only the purplish wing patch (speculum). Instead, "Woody" is what one would call a flashy, sporty dresser. His crested head of iridescent green and purple with long white stripes and a breast of snow white sets off a wine colored cravat that has been splashed with tiny drops of gold. Add the greenish-blue wing patch, chestnut flanks, white bill patched with black on one end and scarlet on the other, orange footwear and even Beau Brummel would have to play second fiddle.

The wood duck nests high in a hollow tree that preferably is located very close to water. Many hunt clubs, bird clubs and individuals have successfully attracted nesting wood ducks to homemade houses made of rough lumber.

Back in the thirties, wood ducks were placed on the list of vanishing species by the government. At that time, hunters, bird lovers and conservationists joined together to have the necessary laws to protect the colorful birds and the undertaking was a success. Thanks to this effort, wood ducks are again plentiful.