Mandarin duck

Mandarin duck
Temporal range: Pleistocene–Present, 0.8 – 0 Mya
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[1]
Two small ducks stood on some concrete. The duck on the left is highly colourful, with a white belly, pink beak, tawny brown tail feathers, and a dark green head stripe above two white eye areas. The duck on the right is less colourful, with feathers ranging from tawny brown to grey, a small white eye stripe and just a few dark green feathers under the wing.
Male and female mandarin ducks at Martin Mere, UK
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Anseriformes
Family: Anatidae
Genus: Aix
Species:
A. galericulata
Binomial name
Aix galericulata
The native range of the mandarin duck, and parts of its introduced range where it is established breeding
  Breeding
  Native resident
  Migrant
  Winter visitor
  Introduced resident
Synonyms

Anas galericulata Linnaeus, 1758

The mandarin duck (Aix galericulata) is a perching duck species native to the East Palearctic. It is sexually dimorphic, with males showing a dramatic difference from the females.[3] It is medium-sized, at 41–49 cm (16–19 in) long with a 65–75 cm (26–30 in) wingspan. It is closely related to the North American wood duck, the only other member of the genus Aix. 'Aix' is an Ancient Greek word which was used by Aristotle to refer to an unknown diving bird, and 'galericulata' is the Latin for a wig, derived from galerum, a cap or bonnet. Outside of its native range, the mandarin duck has a large introduced population in the British Isles and Western Europe, with additional smaller introductions in North America.

  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).
  2. ^ BirdLife International (2018). "Aix galericulata". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2018: e.T22680107A131911544. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-2.RLTS.T22680107A131911544.en. Retrieved 19 November 2021.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference kk was invoked but never defined (see the help page).