Mandarin Duck（Aix galericulata）
Habitat: streams in mountain areas, river valleys, lakes and marshland.
Food: fruits of crops and other vegetation, fish, shrimp, frogs and other small animals.
Size: middle-sized duck with a full length of 40 cm and a weight of 630 g.
Habits: migrant bird. Male Mandarin duck is a kind of duck with the most colorful feather. The birds act in pairs at the mating period; and at other times, they act in small groups. They produce their eggs and hatch them in tree caves near streams or ponds from April to June each year. Small Mandarin ducks can act alone soon after they are hatched and they will jump into water together with their parents to amuse themselves and to seek for food. The birds produce their young in Northeast in summer and spend their winter in the middle and down stream of the Yangzi River. In some mountain areas of South China, Mandarin ducks will also stay there all the year round and thus they become resident birds there. According to folklores, as soon as a pair of Mandarin ducks becomes husband and wife, they will love each other the rest of their life. Chinese people often regard them as the symbol of love.
Category: Ave, Anseriformes, Anatidae
Distribution: East and South Yunnan, Northeast, South and East China.
Level of protection: Class II key state protection animal of China
 
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