Small duck
Large white cheek patches
Dark cap
Bill blue or bluish
Long tail often held up
Breeding male bright cinnamon red
Size: 14-17 in
Wingspan: 22-24 in
Weight: 11-30 ounces
Male with bright white cheeks; reddish in breeding plumage. Female browner with dark line through cheek patch

Syllables:   rud-dy  duck
Pronunciation:   ruh di  duhk

NOTES

1.  Price (See above)

2.  Price is for print only. Price does not taxes**.

3.  At this time framing is not an option available online.

4.  All sales in US dollars.

5.  New York State residents must include sales tax**

** Tax will be applied to orders shipped to New York State.

The Ruddy Duck (Oxyura jamaicensis)
is a small stiff-tailed duck.

Adult males have a rust-red body, a blue bill and a white face with a black cap. Adult females have a grey-brown body with a grayish face with a darker bill, cap and a cheek stripe. The southern subspecies ferruginea is occasionally considered a distinct species. It is separable by its all-black face and larger size. The subspecies andina has a varying amount of black coloration on its white face; it may in fact be nothing more than a hybrid population between the North American and the Andean Ruddy Duck. As the Colombian population is becoming scarce, it is necessary to clarify its taxonomic status, because it would be relevant for conservation purposes.

Their breeding habitat is marshy lakes and ponds throughout much of North America. They nest in dense marsh vegetation near water. Pairs form each year.

They are migratory and winter in coastal bays and unfrozen lakes and ponds.

These birds dive and swim underwater. They mainly eat seeds and roots of aquatic plants, aquatic insects and crustaceans.

As a result of escapes from wildfowl collections, they are now established in Great Britain, from where they have spread widely into Europe. This duck's aggressive courting behaviour and willingness to interbreed with the endangered native White-headed Duck, Oxyura leucocephala, of southern Europe has caused some concern.

Due to this, there is now a controversial scheme to extirpate the Ruddy Duck as a British breeding species.

Ruddy Duck 

Scientific classification

         Kingdom:  Animalia
         Phylum:   Chordata
         Class:   Aves
         Order:   Anseriformes
         Family:   Anatidae
         Genus:   Oxyura
         Species:   O. jamaicensis

Binomial name
Oxyura jamaicensis