Redhead (duck)

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This article is about the duck species. For other uses, see Redhead (disambiguation).

iRedhead
Conservation status
Least Concern (LC)
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Aves Order: Anseriformes Family: Anatidae Subfamily: Anatinae Genus: Aythya Species: A. americana
Binomial name
Aythya americana (Eyton, 1838)

The Redhead (Aythya americana) is a medium-sized diving duck, 37 cm long with an 84 cm wingspan.

The adult male has a blue bill, a red head and neck, a black breast, yellow eyes and a grey back. The adult female has a brown head and body and a darker bluish bill with a black tip.

The breeding habitat is marshes and prairie potholes in western North America. Loss of nesting habitat has led to sharply declining populations. Females regularly lay eggs in the nests of other Redheads or other ducks, especially Canvasbacks. Redheads usually take new mates each year, starting to pair in late winter.

Following the breeding season, males go through a molt which leaves them flightless for almost a month. Before this happens, they leave their mates and move to large bodies of water, usually flying further north.

They overwinter in the southern and north-eastern United States, the Great Lakes region, northern Mexico and the Caribbean.

This strong migrant is a very rare vagrant to western Europe.

These birds feed mainly by diving or dabbling. They mainly eat aquatic plants with some molluscs, aquatic insects and small fish.

[edit] Gallery

Drake

female with young

Drake in Puerto Rico

[edit] References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Aythya americana

• BirdLife International (2004). Aythya americana. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 11 May 2006. Database entry includes justification for why this species is of least concern