Mandarin duck

Aix galericulata (Linnaeus, 1758)

The mandarin duck (Aix galericulata), also called the Mandarin, is a bird in the waterfowl subgroup, belonging to the family Anatidae in the order Anseriformes. It is a small bird with an adult body mass from 512 to 628 g, a representative weight of 567 g and a wingspan of 71 cm.

Photo: 星外之神 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Quick facts about the mandarin duck

The mandarin duck is a migratory herbivore of forest habitat, with a geographic range of 1,905,000 km². It lays one clutch per year of 10.5 eggs, which are incubated for 29 days, and it is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List.

Weight: 512 g – 628 gsrc for Weight
Length: 41 cm – 49 cmsrc for Length
Wingspan: 71 cmsrc for Wingspan
Lifespan: 9 years – 10 yearssrc for Lifespan
Diet: Herbivoresrc for Diet
Main food: Not recorded
Habitat: forestsrc for Habitat
Egg incubation: 29 dayssrc for Egg incubation
Young per litter or clutch: 10.5src for Young per litter or clutch
Age at maturity: 11.9 monthssrc for Age at maturity
Litters or clutches a year: 1src for Litters or clutches a year
Lifestyle: Generalistsrc for Lifestyle
Migration: Migratorysrc for Migration
Conservation status: Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
Countries on record: Not recorded

How big is the mandarin duck?

At 49 cm, the recorded maximum length of the mandarin duck is about 29% of the height of an adult human (1.7 m, a fixed reference used for scale).

Photos of the mandarin duck

Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.

Mandarin duck (Aix galericulata) — Michael Gäbler · CC BY 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Where does the mandarin duck live?

Not recorded

What is the mandarin duck?

Quoted from WikipediaCC BY-SA 4.0

The mandarin duck (Aix galericulata) is a perching duck species native to East and Northeast Asia. It is sexually dimorphic; the males are elaborately coloured, while the females have more subdued colours. It is a medium-sized duck, at 41–49 cm (16–19 in) long with a 65–75 cm (26–30 in) wingspan. It is closely related to the North American wood duck, the only other member of the genus Aix. 'Aix' is an Ancient Greek word which was used by Aristotle to refer to an unknown diving bird, and 'galericulata' is the Latin for a wig, derived from galerum, a cap or bonnet. Outside of its native range, the mandarin duck has a large introduced population in the British Isles and Western Europe, with additional smaller introductions in North America.

From the Wikipedia article “Mandarin duck” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mandarin_duck&oldid=1380677894), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.

Is the mandarin duck endangered?

The mandarin duck is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.

LCLeast Concern
NTNear Threatened
VUVulnerable
ENEndangered
CRCritically Endangered
EWExtinct in the Wild
EXExtinct

Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species.

How is the mandarin duck classified?

kingdomAnimalia
phylumChordata
classAves
orderAnseriformes
familyAnatidae
genusAix
SpeciesAix galericulata (Linnaeus, 1758)

Synonyms Aix galericulata brunnescens, Anas galeiculata, Anas galericulata, Dendronessa galericulata

Other names and names in other languages (67)

MandarinEnglish
MandaryneendAfrikaans
بط صينيArabic
بط الماندرينArabic
بط الماندرين (بط صيني، بط يُوسفي)Arabic
coríu mandarínAsturian
МандарынкаBelarusian
Качка-мандарынкаBelarusian
মান্দারিন হাঁসBangla
ཚ་ལུ་མTibetan
Hoaud mandarinBreton
Houad mandarinBreton
ànec mandaríCatalan
kachnička mandarínskáCzech
kachnička mandarinskáCzech
Hwyaid CribogWelsh
hwyaden gribogWelsh
hwyaden MandarinWelsh
Mandarin-andDanish
MandarinenteGerman
Mandarin-EnteGerman
ΜανδαρίνοςGreek
MardarenanasoEsperanto
mandarena anasoEsperanto
Pato mandarínSpanish
mandariinpartEstonian
Mandarin ahateBasque
mandariinisorsaFinnish
seglontFaroese
Aix mandarinFrench
Canard mandarinFrench
Lacha mhandarinIrish
Lacha mhandrachIrish
Laagh VandraghScottish Gaelic
מנדרין סיניHebrew
Patka MandarinkaCroatian
mandarinréceHungarian
Bebek MandarinIndonesian
MandarínöndIcelandic
Anatra mandarinaItalian
オシドリJapanese
원앙Korean
MandarinintLuxembourgish
mandarininė antisLithuanian
mandarīnpīleLatvian
Мандир уранхажинMongolian
Itik MandarinMalay
Náátsʼózídę́ę́ʼ naalʼeełíNavajo
mandarijneendDutch
mandarinandNorwegian Nynorsk
mandarynkaPolish
مینڈارن بطخWestern Panjabi
pato-mandarimPortuguese
Anda mandarinaRomansh
Raţa mandarinRomanian
Rață mandarinRomanian
мандари́нкаRussian
MandarinčiksaNorthern Sami
kačička mandarínskaSlovak
mandarinkaSlovenian
Rosa mandarinëAlbanian
เป็ดแมนดารินThai
mandarin ördeğiTurkish
МандаринкаUkrainian
Uyên ươngVietnamese
鴛鴦Chinese
鸳鸯Chinese

Catalogue of Life Wikipedia iNaturalist TAXREF Wikidata WoRMS IUCN Red List

Relatives of the mandarin duck

Other species in the same genus Aix.

Wood duck

Aix sponsa

Anatidae

CompareMandarin duck vs Wood duck

Common questions

Each answer is written from the sourced facts on this page, and only where they hold the answer.

How heavy is a mandarin duck?

An adult Mandarin duck weighs from 512 to 628 g, with a representative value of 567 g. Its wingspan is 71 cm.

What does the mandarin duck eat?

The mandarin duck is a herbivore.

What habitat does the mandarin duck live in?

The mandarin duck lives in forest habitat. It is a migratory bird with a geographic range of 1,905,000 km².

Is the mandarin duck endangered?

No. The mandarin duck is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, which is not a threatened category.

How long does a mandarin duck live?

The mandarin duck has a lifespan of 9 years, with values up to 10 years reported.

How many eggs does a mandarin duck lay?

The mandarin duck lays 10.5 eggs per clutch and one clutch per year. The eggs are incubated for 29 days.

What kind of animal is the mandarin duck?

The mandarin duck is a bird in the waterfowl subgroup, belonging to the family Anatidae and the order Anseriformes.

Who named the mandarin duck?

The mandarin duck, Aix galericulata, was named by (Linnaeus, 1758).

Sources and how to cite this page

Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.

An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1
AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds · CC BY 4.0 · v7
Tobias, J.A. et al. (2022) AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds. Ecology Letters 25: 581–597. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13898. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7
Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf
Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence).
Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service).
Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).

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APA

CreatureData. (2026). Mandarin duck (Aix galericulata). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/mandarin-duck

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BibTeX

@misc{mandarin_duck_2026,
  title = {Mandarin duck (Aix galericulata)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/mandarin-duck},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}