Although it may be technically more correct, I don't think 'Wood Duck' is a very good name, as it does not differentiate from species such as the White-winged Wood Duck.
I've always known it as 'Carolina Wood Duck' - this may well just be something I've picked up from a couple of zoos when I was young but 'Carolina Duck' always sounds wrong to me. Google gives plenty of cases of 'Carolina Wood Duck'.
EDIT: Handbook of the Birds of the World uses 'American Wood Duck', which would work for me except that I've never heard it used anywhere else.
I guess I've also heard the North American wood duck, but only when also talking about the Australian Wood Duck (Chenonetta jubata). Most of the time when I see them in the wild with other people, the other people just call them wood ducks. Twice, while in D.C. and Virginia, I heard them called Carolina wood ducks.
I guess I've also heard the North American wood duck, but only when also talking about the Australian Wood Duck (Chenonetta jubata). Most of the time when I see them in the wild with other people, the other people just call them wood ducks. Twice, while in D.C. and Virginia, I heard them called Carolina wood ducks.
That happens all the time - if you're in the UK for example there's usually no need to specify which species of heron, raven, magpie, kestrel etc because there's only one common native species that uses that name. It always bugs me when field guides use the shortened form though (quite a lot of UK bird guides include a species just called 'Crane', for example), and when I'm labelling photos etc I always try to use the full common name.
