A female mandarin duck, swimming on the lake
How can you tell if a Mandarin duck is male or female?
Identifying male Mandarin ducks is extremely easy – they’re one of the most eccentric-looking birds in the world! The male is bright and colourful with shades of green, blue, purple and metallic copper, with bright orange wings and a distinctive head crest. The male also has two pronounced orange ‘sails’ at its flanks. Males have a improbable, more erect military capability and their skeleton is shaped slightly differently than the females ’. Male Mandarin ducks are wholly unlike to females, except when they undergo a shed at the end of the breeding season and go into their ‘ eclipse feather ’. Believe it or not, Mandarin ducks in their ‘ eclipse feather ’ don ’ thymine look besides dissimilar to females ! contrastingly, female Mandarin ducks have a spotted white and brown breast and ashen bottom with brown-grey upper berth feathers, a white stripe across the eye and a little bluish green stripe on the flank. They ’ re less upright and are slenderly smaller than males excessively .
Female mandarin duck
Male mandarin duck
Mandarin duck eclipse plumage
male and female Mandarin ducks do look similar for a period at the end of the breed temper. The male moults much of his colorful feather aside – you might even be lucky adequate to find some of his beautiful feathers on the labor if you go somewhere where Mandarin ducks are breeding. After moulting, the male looks alike to the female, except for his bill, feet and head crest. This boring feather, called eclipse feather, can last a month or sol at the end of summer. unfortunately, this besides makes juvenile Mandarin ducks harder to identify, as they look exchangeable to both the females and the overshadow males !
A male mandarin duck in eclipse feather
What does a female mandarin duck look like?
Female Mandarin ducks are a brown-grey colour, with brown backs, mottled flanks, a spotted white and brown breast and white undersides and a distinctive white stripe across the eye. The bills are also a slightly different shape, and their legs are pale. They also have a blue-green stripe on their flank, similar to Mallards. The female is shorter and squat with a more egg-shaped oral sex than the male. Like the male, they do have head crests that protrude from the back of the oral sex, but these are shorter and are a brown-grey color. Mistaking a female Mandarin hedge for a male is out of the interview, except at the end of the breed temper when the male ducks moult most of their colorful feather. This shed feather is called ‘ eclipse feather ’. Female Mandarin ducks do, however, look reasonably exchangeable to female wood ducks .
Close up of a female mandarin hedge ( Aix galericulata )
Are female mandarin ducks bigger than males?
There is some conflicting information concerning whether female mandarin ducks are larger than males. Some sources seem to cite that the females are larger than the males, but one reputable source suggests that males weigh within the region of 571 to 693g, whereas females weigh a lesser 428 to 608g.
From side-by-side comparisons, it looks like the male is bigger than the female, which would make feel given their other male-dominant sexually dimorphic traits. In any event, the male surely looks bolder and more inflict, courtesy of his more erect military capability, pronounced crest, bright feet and feathered sails .
A pair of mandarin ducks feeding together
Other differences between male and female Mandarin ducks
Mandarin ducks differ from many species of ducks as they ‘re typically unsociable and prefer to be isolated away from boastfully flocks. They ‘re besides monogamous for the breeding temper at least, which is rare amongst ducks. In Korea, China and Japan, Mandarin ducks have solid symbolism and are associated with peace, sleep together and marriage. They have a rich history in folklore dating spinal column to Ancient China and Japan and frequently have in chinese artwork. A chinese proverb refers to couples as “ Two mandarin ducks playing in water system ”, and in Cantonese, couples are compared to Mandarin ducks as an “ curious match ” or “ improbable pair, ” which references their pronounce sexual dimorphism. Despite being symbols of fidelity, couples of Mandarin ducks frequently ‘divorce ‘ at the end of the breed temper, and it ‘s ill-defined whether they reunite with the same partners ! however, notwithstanding disassociate at the end of the breeding season, Mandarin ducks shape impregnable pair bonds with cutthroat pair commitment .
Female mandarin duck ( left ) and male mandarin duck ( veracious ) perched
Calls and singing
mandarin ducks are relatively repose, and you won ’ triiodothyronine see them quacking away like other ducks. Their calls are insidious and gentle, specially contrasted against Mallards and other noisy waterfowl. however, the male does have a specific whistle and snorting call, which is normally reserved for the coupling season. The female has a elusive ‘ ket ’ call which sounds slightly similar to a coot.
Breeding
After coupling, the female alone incubates the eggs for some 30 days, longer in the Northern Hemisphere. The male often leaves before the eggs hatch and doesn ’ t take contribution in rearing the chicks. While this seems slightly at odds with the Mandarin dip ’ second symbolism, this is typical behavior amongst ducks in general. With that said, there have been some observe cases of the male incubating the eggs while the female was away, and males do occasionally tend to the female during incubation. Males are besides defensive of the female during the breed season and either fight off intruders or warn the female of danger. It ’ s important to highlight that Mandarin duck bonds are strong – studies have revealed that promiscuity and forced sexual intercourse are very rare, which contrasts with the behavior of other ducks .
A female mandarin duck, swimming with her chicks
Behaviour
Mandarin duck couples are frequently described as playful, and their pair bonds are strong. During the breed season, paired couples will frequently isolate themselves from flocks and chase away intruders.
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