The mandarin duck is a smaller type of waterfowl in comparison to dabbling ducks and its American wood duck relatives. The adult male has a petite, red bill, large white crescent above the eye, and a reddish face with "whiskers". It has purple breast feathers with two white bars, ruddy flanks, and two orange feathers on the back. The female resembles the female wood duck, with a grayish-lavender plumage, a white eye-ring, and a stripe extending from the eye. The female also has a paler underside, a white flank stripe, and a pale-tipped bill.