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Bird

Wood Duck

Aix sponsa

Lives in Alabama all year and nests here. Found in all 67 counties, across 12 habitats.

Here
All year
Nesting
Nests here
Range
All 67 counties
Habitats
12

At a glance

Group
Birds
Here
All year
Nesting
Nests here
Range
All 67 counties
Habitats
12
Habitat models
Summer, Winter

Where it lives

The places its habitat model includes. It is not found everywhere a habitat occurs.

Habitats in Alabama 12

Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.

1 of 12

Coastal Plain hammocks

In the Jungle, Florida
SummerSouthern Coastal Plain Hydric HammockWinslow Homer, In the Jungle, Florida (1904): cabbage palms, saw palmetto and fallen trunks in a dense, shady hammock, with a wildcat in the branches. Regional view: the painting does not name the exact site. Shown: Florida (Winslow Homer, In the Jungle, Florida, 1904), a neighboring state.In the Jungle, Florida, Winslow Homer, 1904. Public domain. Source record.

Coastal tidal marshes (salinity not stated)

On the San Sebastian River, Floridalabel QS:Len,"On the San Sebastian River, Florida"
SummerMartin Johnson Heade, On the San Sebastian River (c. 1883-90): a tidal river winding through flat marsh under storm clouds at sunset. Shown: San Sebastian River, St. Augustine, Florida, a neighboring state.On the San Sebastian River, Floridalabel QS:Len,"On the San Sebastian River, Florida", Martin Johnson Heade, c. 1883-1890. Public domain. Source record.

Freshwater marshes

The Great Florida Marsh
SummerWinterSouthern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp - Okefenokee Nupea Modifier; Central Interior and Appalachian Shrub-Herbaceous Wetland SystemsMartin Johnson Heade, The Great Florida Marsh (1886): open marsh and lily-dotted water beneath live oaks and cabbage palms. Regional view: the painting does not name the exact site. Shown: Florida (Heade, The Great Florida Marsh, 1886; North Carolina Museum of Art), a neighboring state.The Great Florida Marsh, Martin Johnson Heade, 1886. Public domain. Source record.

Ponds, lakes and their shores

Florida Sunrisetitle QS:P1476,en:"Florida Sunrise"label QS:Len,"Florida Sunrise"
SummerWinterOpen Water (Fresh)Martin Johnson Heade, Florida Sunrise: still water and a palm-fringed shore glowing at dawn. Regional view: the painting does not name the exact site. Shown: Florida (Heade, Florida Sunrise, c. 1890-1900), a neighboring state.Florida Sunrisetitle QS:P1476,en:"Florida Sunrise"label QS:Len,"Florida Sunrise", Martin Johnson Heade, c. 1890-1900. Public domain. Source record.

Streams, rivers and their banks

Blue Spring, Florida
SummerWinterCentral Interior and Appalachian Riparian Systems; Cumberland Riverscour; South-Central Interior Small Stream and RiparianWinslow Homer, Blue Spring, Florida (1890): clear blue spring water under overhanging palms. Shown: Blue Spring, Florida (Winslow Homer, 1890; National Gallery of Art), a neighboring state.Blue Spring, Florida, Winslow Homer, 1890. Public domain. Source record.

Swamps

Florida, Sunset on the Ocklawaha
SummerWinterSouthern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp - Okefenokee Taxodium Modifier; Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp - Okefenokee Bay/Gum Modifier; Southern Coastal Plain Seepage Swamp and Baygall; East Gulf Coastal Plain Tidal Wooded Swamp; Central Interior and Appalachian Swamp Systems; Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp; Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Cypress Dome; Southern Piedmont/Ridge and Valley Upland Depression SwampFlorida, Sunset on the Ocklawaha (1899): a dark swamp-lined river at sunset, with cypress and hardwoods crowding both banks. Shown: Ocklawaha River, Florida, a neighboring state.Florida, Sunset on the Ocklawaha, Detroit Photographic Co. (chromolithograph), 1899. Public domain. Source record.

Coastal Plain seepage bogs

Open, wet, seepage-fed bogs of the Coastal Plain and Sandhills, often with pitcher plants.

SummerSouthern Coastal Plain Herbaceous Seepage Bog

Disturbed and introduced wetlands

Wet ground taken over by weedy or introduced plants after disturbance, such as common reed, Chinese tallow or tamarisk stands; the upland counterpart is roadsides, fields and disturbed ground.

SummerWinter

Floodplain and bottomland forests

Forests on low ground beside rivers and streams that flood from time to time.

SummerWinterEast Gulf Coastal Plain Large River Floodplain Forest - Forest Modifier; South-Central Interior Large Floodplain - Forest Modifier; Southern Piedmont Large Floodplain Forest - Forest Modifier; Central Interior and Appalachian Floodplain Systems; Central Interior and Appalachian Riparian Systems; Southern Piedmont Small Floodplain and Riparian Forest; South-Central Interior Small Stream and Riparian; East Gulf Coastal Plain Small Stream and River Floodplain Forest; Southern Coastal Plain Blackwater River Floodplain Forest; South-Central Interior Large Floodplain

Hardwood and oak flatwoods

Flat, poorly drained uplands and terraces with oaks, sweetgum and sometimes loblolly pine, wet in winter and dry in summer, but neither a floodplain nor a swamp.

SummerSouth-Central Interior / Upper Coastal Plain Wet Flatwoods

Seeps and springs

Places where groundwater keeps the soil or rock wet, such as seepage slopes and spring runs.

SummerWinterSouthern Coastal Plain Seepage Swamp and Baygall

Wet meadows

Open, wet, grassy or sedgy ground that is not a bog.

SummerCentral Interior and Appalachian Shrub-Herbaceous Wetland Systems
Other habitats in its models (50)

Land cover, or classes with no habitat page in Alabama. Those recorded in Alabama first, the rest by region.

Elsewhere in the South (27)
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Brownwater Stream Floodplain Forest Summer and winter.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Central Fresh-Oligohaline Tidal Marsh Winter.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Embayed Region Tidal Freshwater Marsh Summer and winter.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Indian River Lagoon Tidal Marsh Summer.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Large Natural Lakeshore Summer and winter.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Peatland Pocosin Summer and winter.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Small Blackwater River Floodplain Forest Summer and winter.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Small Brownwater River Floodplain Forest Summer and winter.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Southern Tidal Wooded Swamp Summer.
  • Central Florida Herbaceous Pondshore Summer and winter.
  • East-Central Texas Plains Riparian Forest Summer.
  • Florida Big Bend Fresh-Oligohaline Tidal Marsh Winter.
  • Floridian Highlands Freshwater Marsh Summer and winter.
  • Lower Mississippi River Dune Woodland and Forest Summer.
  • Lower Mississippi River Flatwoods Summer, only within 1,000 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
  • Mississippi River Bottomland Depression Summer and winter.
  • Mississippi River Low Floodplain (Bottomland) Forest Summer and winter.
  • Mississippi River Riparian Forest Summer and winter.
  • Ozark-Ouachita Riparian Summer.
  • Red River Large Floodplain Forest Summer and winter.
  • South-Central Interior / Upper Coastal Plain Flatwoods Summer, only within 1,000 m of water, for banks and other nest sites.
  • Southern and Central Appalachian Bog and Fen Summer.
  • West Gulf Coastal Plain Large River Floodplain Forest Summer and winter.
  • West Gulf Coastal Plain Near-Coast Large River Swamp Summer and winter.
  • West Gulf Coastal Plain Nonriverine Wet Hardwood Flatwoods Summer and winter.
  • West Gulf Coastal Plain Seepage Swamp and Baygall Summer.
  • West Gulf Coastal Plain Small Stream and River Forest Summer and winter.
Northeast (3)
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Northern Fresh and Oligohaline Tidal Marsh Winter.
  • North-Central Interior Wet Flatwoods Summer.
  • Northern Atlantic Coastal Plain Basin Swamp and Wet Hardwood Forest Summer and winter.
Land cover and other classes (20)
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Blackwater Stream Floodplain Forest - Forest Modifier Summer and winter.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Clay-Based Carolina Bay Forested Wetland Summer and winter.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Clay-Based Carolina Bay Herbaceous Wetland Summer and winter.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Depression Pondshore Summer and winter.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Nonriverine Swamp and Wet Hardwood Forest - Oak Dominated Modifier Summer and winter.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Nonriverine Swamp and Wet Hardwood Forest - Taxodium/Nyssa Modifier Summer and winter.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Streamhead Seepage Swamp - Pocosin - and Baygall Summer and winter.
  • Central Appalachian Riparian - Forest Modifier Summer and winter.
  • East Gulf Coastal Plain Large River Floodplain Forest - Herbaceous Modifier Summer and winter.
  • East Gulf Coastal Plain Southern Depression Pondshore Summer and winter.
  • Eastern Great Plains Floodplain Systems Summer.
  • Eastern Great Plains Wet Meadow, Prairie, and Marsh Summer.
  • Lower Mississippi River Bottomland Depressions - Forest Modifier Summer and winter.
  • Mississippi River Floodplain and Riparian Forest Summer and winter.
  • South-Central Interior Large Floodplain - Herbaceous Modifier Summer and winter.
  • Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp - Okefenokee Pine Modifier Summer and winter.
  • Unconsolidated Shore Summer and winter.
  • Unconsolidated Shore (Lake/River/Pond) Summer and winter.
  • Western Great Plains Depressional Wetland Systems Summer and winter.
  • Western Great Plains Floodplain Systems Summer and winter.

All habitats

Seasons in Alabama

  • Year-round: nests here, in all 67 counties.

Food plants

Diet records by plant genus, from studies across North America. Not a record from this state. Plants matched by genus.

Native plants in these genera 205

Plant genera in its diet records (30)
  • Paspalum Seeds. 4 diet records. 17 native plants in Alabama
  • Polygonum Seeds. 4 diet records. 4 native plants in Alabama
  • Aneilema Seeds. 3 diet records. 0 native plants in Alabama
  • Brasenia Seeds. 3 diet records. 1 native plant in Alabama
  • Leersia Seeds. 3 diet records. 4 native plants in Alabama
  • Panicum Seeds. 3 diet records. 6 native plants in Alabama
  • Potamogeton Leaves. 3 diet records. 10 native plants in Alabama
  • Vitis Seeds. 3 diet records. 10 native plants in Alabama
  • Bidens Seeds. 2 diet records. 10 native plants in Alabama
  • Echinochloa Seeds. 2 diet records. 1 native plant in Alabama
  • Liquidambar Seeds. 2 diet records. 1 native plant in Alabama
  • Nymphaea Seeds. 2 diet records. 3 native plants in Alabama
  • Quercus Seeds. 2 diet records. 46 native plants in Alabama
  • Rubus Fruit. 2 diet records. 7 native plants in Alabama
  • Sagittaria Roots. 2 diet records. 12 native plants in Alabama
  • Scleria Seeds. 2 diet records. 14 native plants in Alabama
  • Spirodela Leaves. 2 diet records. 1 native plant in Alabama
  • Taxodium Seeds. 2 diet records. 2 native plants in Alabama
  • Acer Seeds. 1 diet record. 8 native plants in Alabama
  • Boehmeria Seeds. 1 diet record. 1 native plant in Alabama
  • Cephalanthus Seeds. 1 diet record. 1 native plant in Alabama
  • Forestiera Seeds. 1 diet record. 2 native plants in Alabama
  • Glycine Seeds. 1 diet record. 0 native plants in Alabama
  • Lemna Seeds. 1 diet record. 4 native plants in Alabama
  • Ludwigia Seeds. 1 diet record. 22 native plants in Alabama
  • Planera Fruit. 1 diet record. 1 native plant in Alabama
  • Sassafras Seeds. 1 diet record. 1 native plant in Alabama
  • Triadenum Seeds. 1 diet record. 0 native plants in Alabama
  • Ulmus Seeds. 1 diet record. 4 native plants in Alabama
  • Viburnum Seeds. 1 diet record. 12 native plants in Alabama

Avian Diet Database (Hurlbert Lab), CC0 1.0.

Also found in its main habitats

Its main habitats in Alabama, by how much of its habitat model each one is, with the birds most characteristic of each and the plants that grow wild there. Shared habitat, not food.

Floodplain and bottomland forests

Birds 88

Plants 418

All of floodplain and bottomland forests in Alabama

Swamps

Birds 86

Plants 327

All of swamps in Alabama

Streams, rivers and their banks

Birds 78

Plants 322

All of streams, rivers and their banks in Alabama

USGS Gap Analysis Project habitat models.

Sources