Скачать или смотреть Mandarin Ducks

The mandarin duck is a duck species native to the East. It is closely related to the North American wood duck. The adult male has a red bill, large white crescent above the eye and reddish face and "whiskers". The male's breast is purple with two vertical white bars, and the flanks ruddy, and he has two orange "sails" at the back (large feathers that stick up like boat sails). The female is like the male wood duck, with a white eye-ring and stripe running back from the eye but is paler, and has a small white flank stripe, and a pale tip to its bill. Both the males and females have crests, but the purple crest is more pronounced on the male.
Like many other species of ducks, the male undergoes a molt after the mating season into eclipse plumage. When in eclipse plumage, the male looks similar to the female, but can be told apart by its bright yellow-orange or red beak, lack of any crest, and a less-pronounced eye-stripe.
Compared to other ducks, mandarins are shy birds, but become bolder as a result of becoming tame from frequent interaction with their humans.
In the wild, mandarin ducks breed in densely wooded areas near shallow lakes, marshes, or ponds. They nest in cavities in trees close to water and during the spring, the females lay their eggs in the tree's cavity after mating. A single clutch of nine to twelve eggs is laid in April or May. Although the male may defend the brooding female and his eggs during incubation, he himself does not incubate the eggs and leaves before they hatch. Shortly after the duckling’s hatch, their mother flies to the ground and coaxes the ducklings to leap from the nest. After all the ducklings are out of the tree, they will follow their mother to a nearby body of water.
A Chinese proverb for loving couples uses the mandarin duck as a metaphor: "Two mandarin ducks playing in water"
Cedar Lakes Woods & Gardens
4990 NE 180th Avenue,
Williston, Florida 32696
(352) 529-0055