- Oxyura jamaicensis
Includes: Andean Duck
Identification
35–43 cm; a small diving duck. Compact body with large head and stiff tale give it a very distinctive shape.
- Striking blue bill
- White cheeks
- Dark brown head
- Red/brown body
- ferruginea usually with an all black head
Female
- Dull brown
- Bold, pale cheek patches
Distribution
Native of North, Central and South America; and the Caribbean.
Introduced to the UK and Europe, where hybridisation with White-headed Duck is causing some concern.
Taxonomy
IOC recognizes ferruginea as full species, Andean Duck.
Subspecies
There are 3 subspecies[1]:
- O. j. jamaicensis:
- Interior north-western North America (south-western Canada to Mexico); West Indies
Photo by Stanley Jones
Laguna Cartagena National Wildlife Refuge, Puerto Rico, USA, November 2012
- O. j. andina:
- Lakes and marshes of Central and Eastern Andes of Colombia
- O. j. ferruginea:
Habitat
Marshes, ponds and lakes with areas of open water and emergent vegetation.
Behaviour
Action
Dives to feed. Often sinks low in water before diving or even sinks completely to feed without diving.
Rarely seen on land as it walks poorly. They are not often seen in flight.
It cocks the tail much of the time. Except when on the nest spends much time on open water or diving for food.
Diet
A diving duck.
Their diet consists of aquatic insects, molluscs, crustaceans and worms. Also aquatic plant seeds.
Breeding
Breeding season varies through range, breeds all year in the tropics, April to August in the northern parts of its range.
A seasonally monogamous species. The nest is a bowl made of dead vegetation on ground or on water, hidden in dense vegetation. Lays 6 to 10 eggs.
References
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2016. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2016, with updates to August 2016. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive (retrieved December 2014)
- BF Member Observations
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Ruddy Duck. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 6 May 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Ruddy_Duck
External Links
