Breeding birds: 2,300 pairs
Wintering birds: 7,000 birds
Family: Ducks, geese & swans
In breeding plumage, the adult male mandarin duck has a white lower breast, belly and undertail coverts. The flanks are pale orange with wavy black and white lines, and the upper breast is maroon with three black and two white vertical stripes on each side. The upperparts are dark olive-brown.
It has pale upperwing coverts. a glossy green-blue band thickly bordered with white, and iridescent blue scapulars. The outer tertials are glossed with blue, and they have glossy green primaries with white fringes.
The tail is brown glossed with green, and it has a pair of characteristic elongated tertial feathers or ‘sails’ on each side of its back, which are chestnut-orange with white edges on the top and black underneath.
It has cream coloured cheeks, with long pointed chestnut-orange whisker-like feathers on the front and sides of its head. It has a crest of black feathers along the head and crown which are glossed green-blue at the front, purplish-red in the centre, and purplish-blue at the back.
The bill is red with a pale pink nail, the eyes are dark brown with a pale-yellow outer ring, and the legs and feet are orange.
The female mandarin duck has white underparts, and olive-brown upperparts. The breast and flanks are pale buff mottled with brown and she lacks the sails of the male.
It has a grey head with a thin white line around the eye that extends to the neck, and a white line around the bill and under the chin. Her crest is less pronounced than the male.
It has a pink bill with a pale tip, the eyes are dark brown, and the legs and feet are dull yellow.
In eclipse plumage the male resemble the female, but he has a bright orange or red beak, no crest, and a less-pronounced eye stripe.
Juvenile mandarin ducks are similar to females but have streaks on the breast and flanks, and dark spots on the belly.
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Mandarin ducks breed in April and May in densely wooded areas near water. They make their nests in cavities in trees lined with down feathers.
Mandarin ducks lay 9-12 white eggs which are incubated by the female alone for 28-30 days. The male may defend the nest during the incubation period, but leaves before the chicks hatch. Just after hatching they will jump out of the nest and follow their mother to nearby water.
They fledge at 40-45 days when and reach sexual maturity at 1 year.
Mandarin ducks have a varied diet and will eat acorns, grains, seeds, aquatic plants, small fish, and snails. In the summer they will also eat frogs, molluscs, and small snakes.
Mandarin ducks can be seen in the UK all year round. They mainly live in south, central and eastern England, near lakes with overhanging vegetation. They can also be seen in Wales, northern England, and Scotland.
Britain's Birds
RSPB Handbook Of British Birds
Collins Bird Guide
The mandarin duck was first imported to Britain in the mid-18 century, but it wasn’t until the 1930s that escapees started breeding. They are one of the few introduced species not to cause any ecological problems, as their favoured habitats are not used by the UK’s native wildfowl.
