Portrait of a Mandarin
Finally got out to shoot today. The weather is still a bit too warm to find much wildlife at the local park. I did, however ask this Mandarin Duck to pose for a quick portrait. I’m happy with the results... but I’m easy to please : )
Have a Fabulous Friday and Wonderful weekend !!
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The Mandarin Duck
The Mandarin Duck is a perching duck species native to the Eastern Palearctic Region, which includes Mongolia, China, Tibet, Korea and Japan. It is medium-sized is closely related to the North American wood duck.
The adult male has a red bill, large white crescent above the eye and reddish face and "whiskers". The male's breast is purple with two vertical white bars and has two orange feathers that stick up like boat sails. The female is similar to the female wood duck, with a white eye-ring and stripe running back from the eye.
Mandarin ducks breed in densely wooded areas near shallow lakes, marshes or ponds. They nest in cavities in trees close to water and during the spring, the females lay their eggs in the tree's cavity after mating.
A single clutch of nine to twelve eggs is laid in April or May. Shortly after the ducklings hatch, their mother flies to the ground and coaxes the ducklings to leap from the nest. After all of the ducklings are out of the tree, they will follow their mother to a nearby body of water.
Mandarins feed by dabbling or walking on land. The diet of mandarin ducks changes seasonally; in the fall and winter, they mostly eat acorns and grains. In the spring and summer they eat insects, snails, fish and aquatic plants.
(200-600 @ 600 mm, 1/800 @ f/6.3, ISO 8000, processed to taste)
Portrait of a Mandarin
Finally got out to shoot today. The weather is still a bit too warm to find much wildlife at the local park. I did, however ask this Mandarin Duck to pose for a quick portrait. I’m happy with the results... but I’m easy to please : )
Have a Fabulous Friday and Wonderful weekend !!
_______________________________________________
The Mandarin Duck
The Mandarin Duck is a perching duck species native to the Eastern Palearctic Region, which includes Mongolia, China, Tibet, Korea and Japan. It is medium-sized is closely related to the North American wood duck.
The adult male has a red bill, large white crescent above the eye and reddish face and "whiskers". The male's breast is purple with two vertical white bars and has two orange feathers that stick up like boat sails. The female is similar to the female wood duck, with a white eye-ring and stripe running back from the eye.
Mandarin ducks breed in densely wooded areas near shallow lakes, marshes or ponds. They nest in cavities in trees close to water and during the spring, the females lay their eggs in the tree's cavity after mating.
A single clutch of nine to twelve eggs is laid in April or May. Shortly after the ducklings hatch, their mother flies to the ground and coaxes the ducklings to leap from the nest. After all of the ducklings are out of the tree, they will follow their mother to a nearby body of water.
Mandarins feed by dabbling or walking on land. The diet of mandarin ducks changes seasonally; in the fall and winter, they mostly eat acorns and grains. In the spring and summer they eat insects, snails, fish and aquatic plants.
(200-600 @ 600 mm, 1/800 @ f/6.3, ISO 8000, processed to taste)