Wood Duck Photos

Photography by Terry Sohl

My Favorite: A gorgeous, other-worldly looking species, and fortunately one that you see quite a bit in eastern South Dakota. However, I find them to often be very shy and difficult to photograph under most circumstances. However, like many waterfowl species, those that get accustomed to living in urban parks and ponds are often less shy than those found in more wild environments.

My favorite photo of the species is a most unusual one for South Dakota! In the late fall of 2020, a Mandarin Duck male was found inhabiting a small urban pond in Yankton, South Dakota. He also made a friend...a male Wood Duck! The two were inseparable, following each other everywhere on the small pond, and even defending a territory from any other waterfowl that came close. The photo below is of the pair on November 15th, 2020. Sadly, about a week after this was taken, the Mandarin drake was evidently caught by a predator.

Mandarin Ducks are generally considered escapees when seen in the US, although there are now multiple wild breeding populations. However, despite the "escapee" status of this gorgeous Mandarin, I'm so glad I made the 1 1/2 hour drive to photograph him, as this photo is an instant favorite of mine. Several other photos of the pair can be seen down below (click on the small image chips for a larger view).

Mandarin and Wood Duck - Aix sponsa and Aix galericulata


Wood Duck 1 October 11th, 2004 Outdoor Campus, Sioux Falls, South Dakota	Wood Duck 2 November 15th, 2020 Yankton, South Dakota	Wood Duck 3 October 11th, 2004 Outdoor Campus, Sioux Falls, South Dakota	Wood Duck 4 October 11th, 2004 Outdoor Campus, Sioux Falls, South Dakota

Wood Duck 5 November 15th, 2020 Yankton, South Dakota	Wood Duck 6 April 12th, 2005 Minnehaha County, South Dakota	Wood Duck 7 May 2nd, 2010 Minnehaha County, South Dakota	Wood Duck 8 May 17th, 2013 Minnehaha County, South Dakota

Wood Duck 9 October 2nd, 2016 Minnehaha County, South Dakota	Wood Duck 10 November 15th, 2020 Yankton, South Dakota	Wood Duck 11 November 15th, 2020 Yankton, South Dakota	Wood and Mandarin Duck 1 November 15th, 2020 Yankton, South Dakota

Wood and Mandarin Duck 2 November 15th, 2020 Yankton, South Dakota	Wood and Mandarin Duck 3 November 15th, 2020 Yankton, South Dakota	Wood and Mandarin Duck 4 November 15th, 2020 Yankton, South Dakota	Wood and Mandarin Duck 5 November 15th, 2020 Yankton, South Dakota

Wood and Mandarin Duck 6 November 15th, 2020 Yankton, South Dakota	Wood and Mandarin Duck 7 November 15th, 2020 Yankton, South Dakota	Wood and Mandarin Duck 8 November 15th, 2020 Yankton, South Dakota	Wood Duck 12 October 7th, 2017 Minnehaha County, South Dakota

Wood Duck 13 April 21st, 2017 Ditch Road, Minnehaha County, South Dakota	Wood Duck 14 April 21st, 2017 Ditch Road, Minnehaha County, South Dakota	Wood Duck 15 April 21st, 2017 Ditch Road, Minnehaha County, South Dakota	Wood Duck 16 July 3rd, 2017 Minnehaha County, South Dakota