Themandarin duck (Aix galericulata) is aperching duck species native to the EastPalearctic. It is sexually dimorphic; the males are elaborately coloured, while the females have more subdued colours.[2] It is a medium-sized duck, at 41–49 cm (16–19 in) long with a 65–75 cm (26–30 in) wingspan. It is closely related to the North Americanwood duck, the only other member of the genusAix.'Aix' is anAncient Greek word which was used byAristotle to refer to an unknown diving bird, and'galericulata' is theLatin for a wig, derived fromgalerum, a cap or bonnet. Outside of its native range, the mandarin duck has a large introduced population in theBritish Isles andWestern Europe, with additional smaller introductions inNorth America.
The mandarin duck was described and illustrated in 1727 by the German explorerEngelbert Kaempfer in hisThe History of Japan. He wrote: "Of Ducks also there are several differing kinds, and as tame as the Geese. One kind particularly I cannot forbear mentioning, because of the surprizing beauty of its male, call'dKinmodsui, which is so great, that being shew'd its picture in colours, I could hardly believe my own Eyes, till I saw the Bird it self, it being a very common one."[3] In 1747 the English naturalistGeorge Edwards included an illustration and a description of the species in the second volume of hisA Natural History of Uncommon Birds. He used the English name "The Chinese teal". He based his hand-coloured etching on a live specimen kept by the merchantMatthew Decker on his estate at Richmond in Surrey. Decker was a director of theEast India Company.[4] When in 1758 the Swedish naturalistCarl Linnaeus updated hisSystema Naturae for thetenth edition, he placed the mandarin duck with the ducks and geese in thegenusAnas. Linnaeus included a brief description, coined thebinomial nameAnas galericulata and cited the earlier publications.[5][6] The mandarin duck is now placed together with thewood duck in the genusAix that was introduced in 1828 by the German ornithologistFriedrich Boie. The species ismonotypic: nosubspecies are recognised.[7] The genus name is theAncient Greek word for an unknown diving bird mentioned byAristotle. The specific epithet is fromLatingalericulatum meaning a "peruke" or "wig".[8]
Mandarin duck unusually has 84chromosomes, allacrocentric, compared to 80, oftensubmetacentric, for other ducks; this makes successfulhybridisation with other ducks very difficult, and possibly impossible, though this is disputed.[9] Hybrids have been reported with six other duck species, but none of these have yet been verified.[9]
The mandarin duck is among the smaller species of waterfowl, with a shorter body and smaller overall body size than mostdabbling ducks, and is slightly smaller than its American wood duck relative. The adult male has a small red bill, large white crescent above the eye and reddish face and "whiskers". The male's breast is purple with two vertical white bars, the flanks ruddy, and has two orange 'sail' feathers at the back (large feathers that stick up similar to boat sails). The female is similar to the female wood duck, with greyish-brown plumage, and a slender white eye-ring and stripe running back from the eye. The female is paler on the underside, has a small white flank stripe, and a pale tip to its bill.[10]
Drake in full eclipse plumage
Both the males and females havecrests, but the purple crest is more pronounced on the male.Like many other species of ducks, the male undergoes amoult after the mating season intoeclipse plumage. When in eclipse plumage, the male looks similar to the female, but can be distinguished by its bright yellow-orange or red beak, lack of any crest, and a less pronounced eye-stripe.
Mandarin duck ducklings are almost identical in appearance to wood duck ducklings, and very similar tomallard ducklings. The ducklings can be distinguished from mallard ducklings because the eye-stripe of mandarin duck ducklings (and wood duck ducklings) stops at the eye, while in mallard ducklings it reaches all the way to the bill.[citation needed]
Thespecies was once widespread in East Asia, but large-scale exports and the destruction of its foresthabitat have reduced populations in eastern Russia and in China to below 1,000 pairs in each country; Japan, however, is thought to still hold some 5,000 pairs. The Asian populations aremigratory, overwintering in lowland eastern China and southern Japan.[11][needs update]
Afossilcoracoid from theMiddle Pleistocene ofWest Runton, England, was originally referred to this species and was thought to indicate a formerly much more extensive distribution.[12] However this has now been reinterpreted as an indeterminate member ofAnatinae.[13]
Specimens frequently escape from collections, and in the 20th century, a large, feral population was established inGreat Britain; more recently, small numbers have bred in Ireland, concentrated in the parks ofDublin. Now, about 7,000 are in Britain.[14] Owing to its different habitat preferences compared to native water birds, the mandarin duck appears to have had no negative impacts on nativewildfowl as a result of its introduction to the UK, as it does not engage incompetition with other ducks over their habitats[15][16] and occupies a previously-vacantecological niche; it is generally not considered to beinvasive. However, its expanding range means that it may compete withcommon goldeneye (Bucephala clangula), which also nests in trees.[17]
Additional populations of mandarin ducks can be found on the European continent, the largest of which is in the region ofBerlin.[18] Isolated populations exist in the United States. The town ofBlack Mountain, North Carolina, has a limited population,[19] and a free-flying feral population of several hundred mandarins exist inSonoma County, California.[citation needed] This population is the result of several ducks escaping from captivity, then reproducing in the wild.[10]
The habitats it prefers in its breeding range are the dense, shrubby forested edges of rivers and lakes. It mostly occurs in low-lying areas, but it may breed in valleys at altitudes of up to 1,500 m (4,900 ft). In winter, it additionally occurs in marshes, flooded fields, and open rivers. While it prefers fresh water, it may also be seen wintering in coastal lagoons and estuaries. In its introduced European range, it lives in more open habitat than in its native range, around the edges of lakes, water meadows, and cultivated areas with woods nearby.[11]
Compared to other ducks, mandarin ducks are shy birds, preferring to seek cover under trees such as overhangingwillows, and form smaller flocks,[20] but when accustomed to humans may exhibit bolder behaviour.
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 during the spring. 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 ducklings hatch, their mother flies to the ground and coaxes the ducklings to leap from the nest. After all of the ducklings are out of the tree, they will follow their mother to a nearby body of water.[11]
Mandarins feed by dabbling or walking on land. They mainly eat plants andseeds, especiallybeech mast andacorns.[14] The species will also add snails, insects and small fish to its diet.[21] The diet of mandarin ducks changes seasonally; in the fall and winter, they mostly eat acorns and grain. In the spring, they mostly eat insects, snails, fish and aquatic plants. In the summer, they eat[22] small worms, small fish, frogs, mollusks, and small snakes.[23] They feed mainly near dawn or dusk, perching in trees or on the ground during the day.[11]
Like many other bird species, Mandarin ducks displayconspecificbrood parasitism.[24] Typically, Mandarin ducks lay their eggs in nests of their own relatives[25][26] or other bird species.[27] In the Zuojia Nature Reserve inNortheast China, 46.1% of Mandarin ducks were found to practice conspecific brood parasitism.[24] Female ducks lay their eggs in different nests for a wide variety of reasons. For example, when there are nest limitations or there are little resources available, female ducks are more likely to practice conspecific brood parasitism.[28] When females practice this behavior, they can benefit from a decrease in the costs from parental care and incubation.[26] Additionally, female parasitic ducks can reduce their risks frompredation.[29][30]
While there was speculation that larger clutch sizes can lead to an increase in resource competition, research has found that the number of parasite eggs had no negative influence on the success of eggs from thehost.[31] Over generations, conspecific brood parasitism can increase the net number of offsprings found within each generation.[32][33] Overall, other duck species that have utilised this behaviour to lay their eggs were able to increase their reproductive success by more than double.[33]
Predation of the mandarin duck varies between different parts of its range.Mink,raccoon dogs,otters,polecats,Eurasian eagle-owls, andgrass snakes are all predators of the mandarin duck.[23] The greatest threat to the mandarin duck is habitat loss due to logging. Hunters are also a threat to the mandarin duck, because often they are unable to identify mandarin ducks in flight and as a result, many are shot by accident. Mandarin ducks are not hunted for food, but are still poached because their extreme beauty is prized.[23]
Because of its striking plumage, mandarin ducks are very popular in zoos and waterfowl collections. Various mutations and domesticatedbreeds have been selected in captivity by duck breeders, the most common of which are pale ('silver') and white birds.[34]
AYuan dynasty porcelain teapot representing a mandarin duck pairPorcelain winepot in the form of a mandarin duck, decorated in overglaze enamels,Qing dynasty, circa 1760
The Chinese refer to mandarin ducks asyuanyang (simplified Chinese:鸳鸯;traditional Chinese:鴛鴦;pinyin:yuānyāng), where'yuan' (鴛) and'yang' (鴦) respectively stand for male and female mandarin ducks. In traditional Chinese culture, mandarin ducks are believed to be lifelong couples, unlike other species of ducks. Hence they are regarded as a symbol of conjugal affection and fidelity, and are frequently featured in Chinese art.
AChinese proverb for loving couples uses the mandarin duck as a metaphor: "Two mandarin ducks playing in water" (simplified Chinese:鸳鸯戏水; traditional Chinese:鴛鴦戲水; pinyin:yuānyāng xì shuǐ). A mandarin duck symbol is also used in Chinese weddings because in traditional Chinese lore, they symbolize wedded bliss and fidelity. Because the male and female plumages of the mandarin duck are so unalike,'yuan-yang' is frequently used colloquially inCantonese to mean an "odd couple" or "unlikely pair" – a mixture of two different types of the same category; for example, the drinkyuanyang andyuan-yang fried rice. Mandarin ducks featured on theflag of Weihaiwei during British rule.
ForKoreans, mandarin ducks represent peace, fidelity, and plentiful offspring. Similar to the Chinese, they believe that these ducks mate for life. For these reasons, pairs of wooden-carved mandarin ducks called wedding ducks are often given as wedding gifts and play a significant role inKorean marriage.[35]
Similarly, inJapanese the ducks are calledoshidori (おしどり/オシドリ/鴛鴦) and are used in the phraseoshidori fūfu (おしどり夫婦, "a couple of lovebirds/happily married couple"). In addition, the Crown Prince wears theSokutai decorated with a pattern featuringoshidori.[36]
^abShurtleff, Lawton; Savage, Christopher (1996).The Wood Duck and the Mandarin: The Northern Wood Ducks. University of California Press.ISBN0-520-20812-9.
^abcdMadge, Steve; Burn, Hilary (1987).Wildfowl: An identification guide to the ducks, geese and swans of the world. London: Christopher Helm. pp. 188–189.ISBN0-7470-2201-1.
^Harrison, C. J. O. (1979). "Birds of the Cromer Forest Bed series of the East Anglian Pleistocene".Transactions of the Norfolk & Norwich Naturalists' Society.25 (1):277–286.
^abHandbook of the birds of the world: orders Struthioniformes, Tinamiformes, Sphenisciformes, Gaviiformes, Podicipediformes, Procellariiformes, Pelecaniformes, Ciconiiformes, Phoenicopteriformes and Anseriformes. Barcelona: Lynx edicions. 1992. p. 598.ISBN84-87334-10-5.
^abAndersson, Malte (1984), "Brood Parasitism within Species",Producers and Scroungers, Boston, MA: Springer US, pp. 195–228,doi:10.1007/978-1-4615-9784-1_8 (inactive 1 July 2025),ISBN978-1-4615-9786-5{{citation}}: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of July 2025 (link)
^Roy Nielsen, Charlotte L.; Parker, Patricia G.; Gates, Robert J. (2008). "Partial Clutch Predation, Dilution of Predation Risk, and the Evolution of Intraspecific Nest Parasitism".The Auk.125 (3):679–686.doi:10.1525/auk.2008.07114.ISSN0004-8038.
^McRae, Susan B. (1996). "Brood Parasitism in the Moorhen: Brief Encounters between Parasites and Hosts and the Significance of an Evening Laying Hour".Journal of Avian Biology.27 (4):311–320.doi:10.2307/3677262.JSTOR3677262.
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