Wood Duck Negative Footprint

$10.00

The Wood Duck originates from the wild mallard. Domesticated as many as 8,000 years ago, the duck has long served as a stable food source for humans. The duck’s bill, is designed for feeding on aquatic vegetation, macro-invertebrates, grains and the occasional vertebrate.

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Description

Wood Duck Negative Footprint measures 2.95 x 2.24 inches. Wood Duck Negative Footprint is museum quality polyurethane resin. Made in USA. The wood duck is a medium-sized perching duck. Species name is A. sponsa.

Wood Ducks or Aix Sponsa webbed feet are tipped with sharp claws, which make it easy for them to perch on tree branches. Their feet are a dull yellow straw color. Three toes point forward and one much smaller toe points backward, this arrangement of toes is called Anisodactyl.

The webbing, or thin skin that stretches between their toes, makes them good swimmers. They use their feet like boat oars, pushing the water out behind them to move them forward. Syndactyly is the name given when two or more fingers or toes are fused together.

Ducks use their feet to regulate their temperature. Researchers have found that ducks do not lose much heat from their feet. Ducks do not lose much heat from their feet and they are able to stand on cold surfaces by using countercurrent exchange. Their arteries and veins are intertwined and before the blood pumps into the ducks’ feet the heat is transferred to the blood coming back into the body from the vein in the feet.

In the summer, Wood ducks or Carolina ducks can be seen in every state east of the Rocky Mountains and throughout the Pacific Northwest.

The adult male Wood duck has stunning multicolored iridescent plumage and red eyes, with a distinctive white flare down the neck. The female has a white eye-ring and a whitish throat. Both adults have crested heads. The speculum is iridescent blue-green with a white border on the trailing edge.

The male’s call is a rising whistle, jeeeeee; the females utter a drawn-out, rising squeal, do weep do weep, when flushed, and a sharp cr-r-ek, cr-e-ek for an alarm call.

Wood ducks can be found in ponds, lakes, marshes, and along rivers and streams. They prefer areas that have a mix of water habitats and forests. Wood ducks alter their diet throughout their lives.

Females line their nests with feathers and other soft materials, and the elevation provides some protection from predators.
Unlike most other ducks, the wood duck has sharp claws for perching in trees and can, in southern regions, produce two broods in a single season. They are the only North American duck that can do so.

Wood Duck Facts:
Conservation status: Least Concern
Scientific classification:
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Anseriformes
Family: Anatidae
Genus: Aix
Species: A. sponsa
Binomial name: Aix sponsa

This species is not threatened and due to its environmental adaptability, its numbers are considered to be ascending.

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Additional information

Weight 1 lbs
Dimensions 2.95 × 2.24 in