2025 Watchable Wildlife Photo Contest Winners

An adult male wood duck in spring plumage is easy on the eyes. Often regarded, and arguably so, as the handsomest of waterfowl, you could make a case it’s one of the most beautiful birds no matter the species.

Lisa Buchweitz of Langdon photographed this winning image for the 2025 Watchable Wildlife Photo Contest in Pembina County.

While the male wood duck is elaborately marked, the female is rather plain by comparison. She is grayish-brown, with a crest and a conspicuous white eye ring.

Scientists tell us the wood duck is native to only North America and is found over much of the United States and southern Canada.

In North Dakota, wood ducks breed mainly along wooded rivers, streams, lakes and ponds from the Missouri River east to Minnesota. They are early migrants and leave North Dakota by early October to more suitable winter climates in Arkansas, Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana.

2025 Watchable Wildlife Photo Contest Winners

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