Mandarin Duck

The mandarin duck is a perching duck of East and north-east Asia, 41–49 cm long with a wingspan of 65–75 cm. The sexes differ: males are elaborately coloured, with a small red bill, a large white crescent above the eye, a reddish face and whiskers, a purple breast with two vertical white bars, ruddy flanks and two orange sail feathers on the back, while females are more subdued. Both sexes have crests, more pronounced in the male (Wikipedia, general species account).

Asian populations are migratory, wintering in lowland eastern China and southern Japan. It mostly occurs in low-lying areas but may breed in valleys up to about 1,500 m. A single clutch of nine to twelve eggs is laid in April or May, and females may lay eggs in other females' nests. After the breeding season males moult into an eclipse plumage.