The bird can be found along the Pacific coast and practically anywhere east of the Mississippi River where there are wooded swamps, streams, ponds, or lakes.  The Wood Ducks habit of nesting in tree cavities allows it to inhabit areas that lack a lot of natural ground cover. They winter in the southern United States and further so south to  Cuba and along the Gulf of Mexico.

The female show amazing site tenacity and will often return to the same tree where she was born.  If the nest is occupied she will select a nest nearby.  However, males show little or not site tenacity.  Males born in Georgia may breed in Nova Scotia and males born in Minnesota may breed in Louisiana.   The reason for this is that the pair bonds form during the winter and the males follow the females with which they have formed a bond.

During courtship several males may gather with a single female and swim side by side, with the males dashing aggressively toward other males with much splashing.  Eventually the female will allow only a few males come near her, acting aggressively toward other males.  She may repeated flick her bill back over her shoulder toward the unwanted male.  Eventually, only one male is left who is allowed to swim close enough to preen the feathers on the females head with his bill and both birds will stop swimming.  The male will then bob his head up and down while uttering a high-pitched whistle and raising and lowering his crest.  Sometimes the male will swim away from the female with tail feathers raised.  The female will follow and they swim away from the competing males together.  Once the bond is formed the female takes the lead and leads the male wherever they go, whether they are feeding or roosting.   This behavior continues with the male following the female to the nest.

The white or tan eggs are placed in a tree cavity lined with wood chips and down.  They will readily use artificial nest boxes where available.  The male accompanies the hen at the nest while she lays 9 to 15 eggs.   Usually one egg is laid per day and then the eggs are covered with litter from the nest and feathers that she plucks from her breast.  The clutches can become as large as 20 or 25 eggs as Wood Duck females sometime "dump" eggs in the nests of other females in a form of intra-species parasitism.  As the incubation period begins the male quickly loses interest and the eggs are incubated entirely by the female for about one month.  Like the Bufflehead the young are coaxed from the nest soon after hatching and then led to water, cover, and food by the mother.  Predators, especially snapping turtles, take their toll on the ducklings.  About two months later the young ducks are able to fly.

After the male leaves the female shortly after incubation begins they tend to form small flocks with other males in the area.  In June and July they withdraw to a secluded area and undergo their post-nuptial molt.   During this molt they lose their flight feathers and for about two weeks they are unable to fly.  The plumage they acquire, called eclipse plumage, closely resembles the plumage of the immature males.  About two weeks later they will undergo a second molt and acquire their winter plumage.   Hatchling males may acquire the adult plumage during this time and by the time they head south the adults and first year males are similar, except that the first year males are somewhat duller.  Females also lose all their feather in August or September, but they do not undergo the double molts as do the males.

Although they nearly became extinct in the early 1900s, protection and habitat preservation have been very successful.  Their population in the United States has been stable or increasing over the past ten years.  Protection of its habitat should ensure maintenance of the current healthy population levels.

Aquatic vegetation makes up the bulk of the Wood Ducks diet.  It is particularly fond of duckweed and wild rice, but also eats acorns, beechnuts, hickory nuts and wild grapes.  The eat lesser amounts of insects, minnows and frogs.

Length 17 to 20 1/2 inches.