Two novel avian $eta$-defensins (AvBDs) isolated from duck liver were characterized and their homologies with other AvBDs were analyzed. They were shown to be duck AvBD9 and AvBD10. The mRNA expression of the two genes was analyzed in 17 different tissues from 1-28-day-old ducks. AvBD9 was differentially expressed in the tissues, with especially high levels of expression in liver, kidney, crop, and trachea, whereas AvBD10 was only expressed in the liver and kidney of ducks at all the ages investigated. We produced and purified GST-tagged recombinant AvBD9 and AvBDI0 by expressing the two genes in Escherichia coli. Both recombinant proteins exhibited antimicrobial activity against several bacterial strains. The results revealed that both recombinant proteins retained their antimicrobial activities against Staphylococcus aureus under a range of different temperatures ($-70^{circ}C-100^{circ}C$) and pH values (pH 3-12).