Swimming Wood Duck

Here's 1 of our more common (though somewhat shy) ducks swimming at the Washington Valley Reservoir. Though a male in eclipse plumage looks similar overall to a female Wood Duck, I'm confident this is a female:

  1. The eyes don't look red (which a male should have) but there is a white ring around the eyes (which only a female should have).
  2. This picture was taken in the spring [1], when I'd expect a male to look more like this in his full breeding plumage.
May 1, 2023 at Washington Valley Reservoir
Photo 278271098, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

[1] If you saw a male Wood Duck on this date, he probably would look a bit like a red-eyed female. One tricky things about some birds (especially males) is having to recognize different plumages.

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