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The Mandarin ducks (Aix galericulata) is a perching duck species native to the East Palearctic. It is closely related to the North American Wood duck, the only other member of the genus Aix. ‘Aix’ is an Ancient Greek word that 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. Mandarin ducks, called yuan-yang by the Chinese, are featured often in Oriental art and regarded as symbols of conjugal fidelity and affection.

Appearance

Adult males are striking and unmistakable, with a red bill, a large white crescent above their eyes, and a reddish face with “whiskers”. Their breasts are purple with double vertical white bars and their flanks are red and have two orange “sails” in the rear. During molting, the males resemble the females but their red bill is their point of difference. The females’ bills are pinkish and they are much less colorful than males. They are pale beige with a thin white flank stripe and a white underbody and have a white eye-ring from where a stripe runs to the back of their heads.

Mandarin ducks breed in eastern Siberia, Japan, and China, and winter in Japan and southern China. In Britain, there is a small number of these birds in a free-flying population, stemming from the release of captive-bred ducks. Mandarin ducks prefer to breed in the dense, shrubby forested edges of rivers and lakes. In winter, they may occur in marshes, flooded fields, and open rivers. While these ducks prefer fresh water, they may also be seen wintering in coastal lagoons and estuaries. In their introduced European range, they live in a more open habitat than in their native range, around the edges of lakes, water meadows, and cultivated areas with woods nearby.