TROPIC and NEAR-TROPIC BIRD COLLECTION

Female Wood Duck "Checkin it out!" Wood Duck Female- Aix sponsa Wood Ducks-Aix sponsa, Order ANSERIFORMES - Family ANATIDAE - Subfamily Anatinae. Today was a wonderful birding day--temps in the high 70's, clear skies, and excellent lighting. The female flew to the nestbox to check it out! "A colorful duck of wooded swamps and streamsides. About 47-54 cm long. Male brightly patterned, female dull gray brown. In this photo, the male is on the left. Year round resident. Nests in trees near the water. The ducklings may jump from heights of up to 89 m (290 ft) without injury from their nest to the ground." These two were spotted on a beautiful, sunny mid-April day in the Shaker Trace Wetlands in the Miami Whitewater Forest area in SW Ohio (Photo: April 16, 2004, Canon 10D, EF 400mm f/5.6 L USM, 1.4x teleconverter EF ll lens, manual focus) For More Species Info: http://www.birds.cornell.edu/programs/AllAboutBirds/BirdGuide/Wood_Duck.html

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Photos Copyright R. Hays Cummins. Authorization required. For permission, contact hays@environment-education-press.org

Sources of species identification and other amazing info include (1) Cornell Lab of Ornithology--a fantastic site; (2)Birds of Eastern and Central North America, Peterson Field Guide Series, Fifth Edition, Houghton Mifflin Company; (3) The National Audubon Society's Sibley Guide to Birds and (4) Field Guide to the Birds of North America, Third Edition, National Geographic, Washington, D.C.