Wood Ducks Mating
Late in the first week of April 2023, I headed down to the Connecticut River in Hanover very early in the morning. I set up my portable blind with leather seats made by Toyota as close to the river as possible and quietly waited. There were a few Hooded Merganser that I ignored, and four Wood Ducks that I did not ignore. At times the wood ducks swam quite close to me.
Two wood ducks departed, and no other ducks were near the pair that remained. As I watched, the wood ducks mated, fortunately facing me and in decent light. The sequence of photos shown here was taken during a 43 second period. The actual copulation took place in about 5 seconds.
At the risk of anthropomorphizing them, a brief comment precedes each photo.
As the Common Goldeneyes did, the female initiated the copulatory sequence by assuming a prone position on the river.
The male appears to be excited by the prospect of mating.
The male prepares by rising up in the water stretching skyward.
Perhaps the male is considering the next steps.
Maybe the female is getting impatient. “What is taking so long?”
The female is now lower in the water encouraging the male.
The male swims past the female and takes a drink.
The male turns and mounts the female.
As the male Common Goldeneye did, he grabs the female’s head.
At this point the female is completely submerged.
The male pushes the female farther down in the water.
The female begins to reemerge. You can see the male still holds her head. Perhaps he is pulling her up.
The male bolts, leaving the the female in his wake.
The female now floats free. You can see the raised feathers on her head where the male grabbed.
The female appears to feel good about herself rising higher in the river.
The female stretches her wings as she rises in the water.
