Mandarin duck

Aix galericulata · The mandarin duck is a perching duck native to East and Northeast Asia, where the males are elaborately coloured and the females have more subdued colours.

Also called Mandarin.

Mandarin duck
Photo: © Francis C. Franklin / CC-BY-SA-3.0, CC BY-SA 3.0
Mandarin duck
Photo: Stephan Sprinz, CC BY 4.0
Mandarin duck
Photo: Alexis Lours, CC BY 4.0

Taxonomy

KingdomAnimalia
PhylumChordata
ClassAves
OrderAnseriformes
FamilyAnatidae
GenusAix
SpeciesAix galericulata

Where it lives

Wooded rivers and ponds of Russia's Far East, China, Korea and Japan.

Fun facts

  • Mandarin duck mothers nest in tree cavities, and soon after hatching she coaxes her ducklings to leap from the nest to the ground below.
  • A female mandarin duck lays a single clutch of nine to twelve eggs in a tree hole near water, in April or May.
  • The male has two orange 'sail' feathers on his back, which are modified flight feathers that stick up like the sails of a boat.
  • Mandarin ducks have 84 chromosomes, while other ducks have 80, which makes it very difficult for them to produce hybrid young with other duck species.

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Facts and taxonomy adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).