Redhead

Aythya americana

Redhead

Status

Physical 

Redheads are diving ducks named for their distinctive red heads. Males have rusty red heads, black chests and tail, and a grey body. Females are brown, with grey secondary feathers on the wings, a white belly, and paler patches on the chin and around the eyes.

Habitat

Habitats vary by season. In the summer, they stay in freshwater marshes. When nesting, they prefer large prairie or mountain valley marshes. Migrating flocks will congregate together on large lakes. And in the winter, they return to coastal bays, lagoons, and large inland lakes. You will find redheads in the Barnegat Bay during the winter.

Feeding 

Redheads eat a mixed diet of plants and insects. They eat the leaves, seed, stems, and roots of various aquatic plants (shoalgrass, pondweeds, sedges, waterlilies, etc.) In the summer, they will eat more insects.

Redhead
Image by Kevin Bercaw on Wikimedia