HUNTING HORIZONS - Worldwide Hunting Seasons Database

The Mandarin Duck [Aix galericulata], or just Mandarin, is a medium-sized perching duck that breeds in eastern Siberia, China, and Japan, migrating to winter in southern eastern China and Japan with a feral population in Great Britain.
Mandarins may form small flocks in winter, but rarely associate with other ducks.
LENGTH: 41-49 cm; WINGSPAN 65-75 cm; WEIGHT: 440-550 gm.
In flight, both sexes display a bluish-green iridescent speculum.
MALE: red bill, large white crescent above the eye and reddish face and 'whiskers' with a crest of orange and cream feathers, the breast is purple with two vertical white bars, and the flanks ruddy, with two orange 'sails' at the back.
FEMALE: duller in colour has an overall grey appearance, grey head, pink bill white heavily spotted breast, white eye-ring and stripe running back from the eye like spectacle frames, small white flank stripe, and a pale tip to its bill.
Mandarins feed walking on land or dabbling wooded ponds and fast flowing rocky streams. Their basic diet consists of water plants, rice, seeds [especially beechmast] and other grains. They mainly eat plants and. They feed mainly near dawn or dusk, perching in trees or on the ground during the day.
Part of the male's display involves sticking out its throat and then bobbing the head quickly up and down. This looks as though the bird is 'burping' but is accompanied by a soft call.