A duck that nests in trees, ducklings that jump before they can fly, and a comeback story worth knowing.
The Wood Duck (Aix sponsa) might be the most colorful duck in North America. The male has a shiny green head, a white chin strap, a rust-colored chest, and bright red eyes. Most ducks nest on the ground. Wood Ducks do something stranger. They nest in holes in trees, sometimes 30 feet up.
The mother lays 9 to 14 eggs inside an old woodpecker hole or a hollow branch. About one day after the eggs hatch, the ducklings climb to the edge of the hole and jump. They cannot fly yet. They are so small and light that they bounce off the leaves below and walk away just fine. The mother calls to them from the ground, and they follow her to the water.
Wood Ducks whistle instead of quacking. The male makes a thin, rising "jeeeeb" sound. The female makes a sharp "oo-eek" when she takes off. If you hear a whistle coming from a tree near a pond, look up. It might be a duck.
Here is the part of the story people forget. By the year 1900, Wood Ducks were almost gone. Too much hunting and too much logging had destroyed the old trees they nest in. Then two things happened. A law passed in 1918 stopped the hunting. And people started building wooden nest boxes and putting them up near ponds and swamps. The ducks moved in. Today the Wood Duck is one of the most common nesting ducks in the eastern United States.
If you want to see one, walk near a wooded pond or a slow creek at sunrise. Check the branches, not just the water. Wood Ducks like to perch in trees, which is a strange place to find a duck.