Family:
The ring-necked duck is medium-sized, compact, diving duck similar to a tufted duck but with a sloping forehead, peaked rear crown, and no crest. In breeding plumage, the male has glossy black upperparts and underparts with grey flanks bordered with white, and a white mark at the shoulder. The head is black with a faint brown neck collar, the eyes are orange, and the bill is grey with a fine, white ring at the base and a broader one at the centre, and a black tip. The legs and feet are black.
The female has dark brown upperparts, pale brown flanks, and a white belly. The head is brown with a pale face and darker crown, a white eyering, and the white lines on the bill are less conspicuous.
In non-breeding plumage, the male has brown flanks, and the white lines on the bill are absent.
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Ring-necked ducks feed mainly on aquatic plants, seeds, leaves, tubers, roots, sedges, and other vegetation. During the summer, it will also take insects, molluscs, worms, and crustaceans. They feed in water, usually diving in shallow water to forage, but will also dabble at and below the surface of the water.
Ring-necked ducks breed in North America on freshwater marshes, and ponds and lakes with dense vegetation. It migrates south for the winter to coastal marshes and estuaries in the southern United States and Central America.
