Even when you know Wood Ducks nest in trees, it is a little weird to see them perched in trees. The male is the upper bird and the lower one is the female.
Towards the end of winter when most duck species were again heading north, I began to see quite a few Wood Ducks at this one pond. I thought I would come back and check it out in spring to see if the Wood Ducks stayed to nest. Wood Ducks do not normally migrate in this area.
I was surprised by the number of ducks I saw on this outing. There were actually five ducks in this tree when I took this photograph, but I couldn't get them all in with my fixed lens.
The duck on the lower branch kept pacing up and down the branch. All birds display hierarchy which is so common among bird species it was given the name pecking order.
For whatever reason, the bird on the right wanted the spot where the other one was perched.
He flew in and bumped the other bird from the perch. Sometimes they won't haze and the aggressor has to find another place to land.
It wasn't until I saw this picture that I began to understand why the male may have been so agitated. There is a female in the upper right of the photo that is probably the mate of the one that was the aggressor. He probably didn't want this male that close to her.
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