What Do Wood Ducks Eat? (Complete Guide)

Wood ducks are one of the most colorful waterfowl in North America, and although their numbers plummeted in the 19th century, their numbers have rebounded.These medium-sized perching ducks belong to the family of large waterbirds Duck family Inhabit freshwater swamps, lakes and swamps, but what do wood ducks eat?

Wood ducks are flexible omnivores that consume a wide range of seasonal foods. Most of their diet consists of aquatic plants, acorns, wheat, water lilies, sedges, and various berries. They also eat invertebrates, including beetles, snails, bugs and flies. Wood duck diets vary by region, season, and breeding status.

These colorful ducks are much more common than they used to be, and their diet is very similar to most other roosting and hunting ducks. While conventional wisdom holds that they get most of their food from water, they also frequently forage on land.

In general, wood ducks are not particularly picky about their diet and consume many nutritious foods that are in season. But of course, there’s still a lot to learn, so read on to discover more facts about this waterbird’s diet and foraging behavior!

Wood ducks, also known as Carolina ducks, usually get most of their food on the water

What do wild ducks eat in the wild?

Wood ducks eat a wide variety of plant foods that make up the majority of their diet. In addition to aquatic plants, wood ducks eat seeds, nuts, acorns, and berries that fall from trees.

They also ventured onto dry land to eat seeds, wheat and other grains. In the Mississippi Valley and neighboring states, wood ducks feed on discarded wheat, corn and rice.

Consumption of animal and invertebrate food increases during spring and summer. Females and breeding males also ate more invertebrates than non-breeding males. This is because invertebrates are rich in fat and energy, which are essential during the breeding season.

plant food

• algae
• berry
• day lily
• duckweed
• fruit
• whole grains
• Grass
• nut
• millet
• pond grass
• rice
• seed
• smart grass
• smart grass
• soy
• water elm
• lotus
• Gouache
• wild millet

animal food

• beetle
• larva
• freshwater shrimp
• mollusk
• Gastropods
• isopod
• fly
• insect

A male wood duck forages on the ground

What do captive forest ducks eat?

Wood ducks are rarely kept in captivity, but instead thrive on a grass-based diet.

Seeds, nuts, dark leafy greens and fruit should be enough to maintain a healthy wood duck. Additionally, wood ducks require insect food during the breeding season, as chicks feed primarily on insects during the first 2 to 3 weeks of life.

How Often Do Wood Ducks Eat?

Wood ducks wade through water and roam around on dry land most of the day.

These peaceful ducks live at a fairly slow pace and usually don’t bother to get all the food they need from their local habitat. Like many ducks, they graze most of the day rather than designating specific foraging times.

Female (left) and male (right) wood ducks swimming in a lake

How do wood ducks find food?

Although wood ducks spend most of their time floating on the water’s surface and foraging from or below the surface, they also forage on land.

Wood ducks typically forage in water by grabbing leaves or scooping up floating food from the surface. They also dive for short distances, up to 1 meter in rare cases.

On dry land, wood ducks poke bushes with their narrow beaks. They swallow food whole, and the esophagus is very flexible and expandable, which allows them to swallow large chunks of solid food, such as acorns. They can also hold a lot of food in their esophagus – one wood duck’s esophagus was dissected to reveal about 30 tiny acorns!

Male wood duck in flight

What time of day do wood ducks eat?

As diurnal birds, wood ducks feed throughout the day. So wood ducks don’t really have any specific designated foraging times – they just spend most of the day grazing.

They may spend a significant portion of their day eating and grazing. Wood ducks are very slow and patient birds – they will happily float and graze while feeding for hours on end!

What do wood ducks eat in winter?

In winter wood ducks feed almost exclusively on acorns, aquatic plants and grains. Insects become less abundant in the water, so wood ducks must increase their intake of nutritious plant foods.

Wood ducks’ diets vary seasonally, and they typically eat more animal and invertebrate food in spring and summer. Invertebrates are more abundant in warm weather and help provide the energy needed to sustain the birds throughout the busy breeding season.

• In winter and autumn, wood ducks’ diet consisted mainly of daylilies (21%), acorns (18%) and weeds (13%).

In winter, wood ducks rely on plant food because insects are not as plentiful

What do wood ducks eat in summer?

Wood ducks eat more invertebrates in spring and summer than in winter (about 10 to 14 percent in spring and only 4 percent in winter).

This is because invertebrates are more abundant in warmer weather, and breeding wood ducks require a high-energy diet to sustain themselves and their chicks. In addition, wood ducks feed their young, including invertebrates, softer foods that provide them with the energy and fat they need for rapid growth. Wood ducklings cannot digest harder foods such as seeds and acorns.

• In spring, wood ducks mainly eat water elm (26%), phobia (13%), animal matter (12%) and pond grass (9%).
• In summer, wood ducks mainly eat white water lilies (26%), wild millet (19%), pond grasses and duckweed (both 11%).

What does the little wooden duck eat?

Wood ducks eat mostly invertebrates, mainly dragonflies and damselflies, insects, beetles and other flies. They support themselves by following their parents and learning through trial and error.

Invertebrates make up their main diet for about two to three weeks, at which point they will begin eating harder foods such as seeds, grains, and plant matter. Ducklings are free-roaming and tend to disperse around their local habitat before foraging on their own after a few days.

Unlike many ducks, wood ducks often form strong pairing bonds that may last for more than one season.

Close up of a wood duck chick

What can I feed my wood ducks?

Wood ducks will eat just about anything, but ground corn, wheat, barley, oats, milo seeds, and bird seeds are all good choices.

Avoid feeding wood ducks (or any other birds) plain white bread, though whole-grain or granary bread is fine. It’s not toxic, but it’s not particularly nutritious either.

What does a wooden duck drink?

Like almost all birds, wood ducks drink water, and nothing but water. They probably get most of their water needs from food.

Ducks need clean water to drink and bathe in, so if their swamp or swamp habitat doesn’t provide this, they may head to a nearby freshwater lake or stream.

Carolina Wood Duck drink some water

How do you attract wood ducks?

To attract wood ducks from nearby ponds, lakes, or other bodies of water, provide grains, seeds, and plant matter. Wood ducks will happily venture out onto dry land to feed, and they are very fond of grains and seeds.

Wood ducks like to stay hidden while foraging, so any shrubs or tall trees will help. Wood ducks also need clean water to drink, so you can provide them with a pail or bucket of fresh water.

Are wood ducks herbivores?

Wood ducks are omnivores, but only about 15 percent of their diet consists of animal foods, mainly invertebrates.

Wood ducks are sometimes thought to be herbivores, but this is incorrect. Wood duck chicks are insect-eating, and for at least 2 to 3 weeks insects make up the majority of their diet. This is because they cannot digest harder seeds and grains.

Close up portrait of Wooden Duck

Wood Duck Diet FAQs

Do forest ducks eat fish?

Wood ducks have been observed occasionally eating small fish. Wood ducks are omnivores, and while they eat mostly plants, they aren’t overly picky about what they eat.

Do forest ducks eat corn?

Wood ducks often visit farms to eat leftover corn after the harvest. They are avid grain eaters.

Do wood ducks eat frogs?

This photo from wildlife photographer Bill Golden is definitive proof that wood ducks can indeed eat frogs! However, this may be rare.

Do wood ducks eat crayfish?

As long as they can swallow crayfish, then yes, wood ducks do eat crayfish. Crayfish are freshwater crustaceans that wood ducks are likely to encounter in their daily lives.

Female wood duck perched on a branch

Do wood ducks eat acorns?

Acorns are a major feature of wood duck diets. In winter, acorns may make up the bulk of a wood duck’s diet. They swallow acorns whole and can store up to 30 at a time in their esophagus.

Do forest ducks eat small fish?

Small fish are small fish, so yes, wood ducks will probably eat small fish. However, this will be very rare.

Do wood ducks eat duckweed?

Duckweed is, perhaps unsurprisingly, eaten by many ducks, including wood ducks.

Do wooden ducks eat asparagus?

Wood ducks do eat wild rice. Along the Mississippi River, wood ducks also frequently venture onto farms to eat farm rice. Their diet consists primarily of plant foods, including many seeds, plants, and grains.