In breeding plumage, the grownup male mandarin duck has a white decrease breast, stomach and undertail coverts. The flanks are pale orange with wavy black and white traces, and the higher breast is maroon with three black and two white vertical stripes on either side. The upperparts are darkish olive-brown.
It has pale upperwing coverts. a shiny green-blue band thickly bordered with white, and iridescent blue scapulars. The outer tertials are glossed with blue, and so they have shiny inexperienced primaries with white fringes.
The tail is brown glossed with inexperienced, and it has a pair of attribute elongated tertial feathers or ‘sails’ on either side of its again, that are chestnut-orange with white edges on the highest and black beneath.
It has cream colored cheeks, with lengthy pointed chestnut-orange whisker-like feathers on the entrance and sides of its head. It has a crest of black feathers alongside the pinnacle and crown that are glossed green-blue on the entrance, purplish-red within the centre, and purplish-blue on the again.
The invoice is crimson with a pale pink nail, the eyes are darkish brown with a pale-yellow outer ring, and the legs and toes are orange.
The feminine mandarin duck has white underparts, and olive-brown upperparts. The breast and flanks are pale buff mottled with brown and she or he lacks the sails of the male.
It has a gray head with a skinny white line across the eye that extends to the neck, and a white line across the invoice and beneath the chin. Her crest is much less pronounced than the male.
It has a pink invoice with a pale tip, the eyes are darkish brown, and the legs and toes are uninteresting yellow.
In eclipse plumage the male resemble the feminine, however he has a vivid orange or crimson beak, no crest, and a less-pronounced eye stripe.
Juvenile mandarin geese are just like females however have streaks on the breast and flanks, and darkish spots on the stomach.