Redhead

The Redhead is a medium-large diving duck native to North America, breeding primarily in prairie pothole marshes and wintering on large lakes, reservoirs, and coastal bays, often alongside other diving ducks including the closely related Canvasback.

Breeding males show a rounded reddish-chestnut head, quite different from the Canvasback's long, sloped forehead profile, along with a black breast and a grey body.

Feathers can be recognized by their grey, finely vermiculated body pattern and reddish-chestnut head tone, generally darker and greyer overall than the paler, almost whitish body feathers of a Canvasback.

Size and shape

• Dense diving-duck contour feathers, similar in size to Canvasback feathers
• Rounded head profile in life, distinct from the Canvasback's wedge-shaped, sloping forehead

Color and pattern

• Male head and neck feathers reddish-chestnut, generally a touch more orange-toned than the deeper red of a Canvasback
• Male breast and rear feathers black, body and flank feathers grey with fine dark vermiculation
• Female feathers a fairly uniform warm brown overall, with a paler face patch around the base of the bill

Distinguishing from similar species

• Compare with Canvasback: Redhead body feathers are darker grey rather than pale whitish-grey, and the head color is a slightly more orange-red
• Female Redhead is warmer and more uniformly brown than the paler, greyer-toned female Canvasback

Breeding males show a rounded reddish-chestnut head, black breast and rear, and grey, finely vermiculated body feathers, with a blue-grey bill marked by a black tip and a white ring near the tip. Females are a fairly uniform warm brown with a paler face patch, and a similarly patterned but duller bill. Molt includes an eclipse phase in males and a flightless period during wing molt typical of diving ducks.

Breeds in prairie pothole marshes across the northern United States and southern Canada, with additional breeding populations in parts of the western United States. Winters on large lakes, reservoirs, and coastal bays across the southern United States, Mexico, and Central America. It is strongly migratory, and it is notable for sometimes laying eggs in the nests of other diving ducks, including Canvasbacks.

A diving duck feeding on aquatic vegetation, seeds, and invertebrates obtained by diving below the surface. Nests over water in dense marsh vegetation, and is known for a degree of brood parasitism, occasionally laying eggs in the nests of other ducks in addition to raising its own broods. Voice includes a distinctive catlike meowing call in males. Its overlap in range and habitat with Canvasback means head shape and body feather tone (grey versus pale whitish-grey) are the most useful clues for separating found feathers of the two species.