# Wood duck (*Aix sponsa*)

Canonical page: https://creaturedata.com/animals/wood-duck  
Data as of: 2026-11-11

The wood duck (Aix sponsa) is a bird in the waterfowl subgroup, belonging to the family Anatidae in the order Anseriformes. It falls in the small size class, with an adult body mass of 637 to 680 g and a wingspan of 68 to 74 cm. The wood duck is an omnivore of wetland habitats, classed as a sedentary generalist with a geographic range of 6,192,000 km². Its eggs incubate for 30 days, clutch size is 11.8 with 1.5 clutches per year, and it is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List.

## Quick facts

| Fact | Value |
|---|---|
| Weight | 637 g – 680 g |
| Length | Not recorded |
| Wingspan | 68 cm – 74 cm |
| Lifespan | 22.5 years |
| Diet | Omnivore |
| Main food | Not recorded |
| Habitat | wetland |
| Egg incubation | 30 days |
| Young per litter or clutch | 11.8 |
| Age at maturity | 12 months |
| Litters or clutches a year | 1.5 |
| Lifestyle | Generalist |
| Migration | Sedentary |
| Conservation status | Least Concern (IUCN) |
| Countries on record | Not recorded |

## Classification

- kingdom: Animalia
- phylum: Chordata
- class: Aves
- order: Anseriformes
- family: Anatidae
- genus: Aix
- species: *Aix sponsa* (Linnaeus, 1758)

Synonyms: *Anas sponsa*, *Dendronessa spora*

## Common questions

### What kind of animal is the wood duck?

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

### How big is a wood duck?

The wood duck is in the small size class, weighing 637 to 680 g as an adult, with a wingspan of 68 to 74 cm.

### What does a wood duck eat?

The wood duck is an omnivore.

### What habitat does the wood duck live in?

The wood duck lives in wetland habitats.

### Is the wood duck endangered?

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

### How long does a wood duck live?

The wood duck has a lifespan of 22.5 years.

### How many eggs does a wood duck lay?

The wood duck has a clutch size of 11.8 eggs, with 1.5 clutches per year and an incubation period of 30 days.

### Who named the wood duck?

The wood duck, Aix sponsa, was named by (Linnaeus, 1758).

## Sources

- [An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles](https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1), 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](https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7), 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](https://www.checklistbank.org/dataset/316691), 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](https://commons.wikimedia.org), 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](https://www.wikidata.org), CC0 1.0, 2026-11-11. Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service).
- [Wikipedia (English)](https://en.wikipedia.org), 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).

Cite as: Wood duck (Aix sponsa). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/wood-duck