Redhead - Aythya americana

Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Anseriformes
Family: Anatidae
Genus: Aythya

Description

The redhead is a diving duck that is 17-21 in length with a wingspan of 30-31 inches. It has a rounded head and a grayish-blue bill with a black tip. It has grayish blue legs and feet and a gray stripe on its wings. The male has a copper colored head, a gray back, and a black breast and rump. The female is a grayish brown on her back, sides and wings. She has a lighter grayish brown belly.

Range

The redhead breeds in central Alaska, the Great Plains, the Great Lakes, and in the some areas of the western U.S. and Canada. it winters in the southern U.S. and along the Atlantic and Pacific Coasts south into Mexico.

Habitat

The redhead is found in shallow freshwater lakes, ponds marshlands, coastal waters and bays.

Diet

The redhead is a diving duck and it searches for aquatic vegetation in muddy shallow areas of water. It may also eat mollusks, aquatic insects and small fish

Life Cycle

Pairs form in the late winter or the early spring. The female lays 10-16 in a cup-shaped nest lined with down and attached to reeds and other marsh vegetation. The male leaves the female once she begins to incubate the eggs. The eggs hatch in 25-26 days. The ducklings are precocial and can feed themselves shortly after hatching. The ducklings fledge when they are about two months old. The female sometimes lays her eggs in the nests of other ducks.

Behavior

Like most diving ducks, the redhead's legs are set back on its body to help it swim and dive. It is awkward on land and it has to run across the water to take of in flight. The male has a meow-like call and the female makes a squawking sound.