Family:
The canvasback is a large diving duck with an oval body, thick neck and sloping forehead, and a short tail that slopes down into the water. The breeding male has a pale grey body with fine vermiculation that resembles the weave of a canvas which gives the species its name. The breast and rump are black, the tail is dark brown, and the head is chestnut. It has a long dark bill, red eyes, and grey legs and feet.
The female has a grey-brown body, dark brown breast and foreneck, and light brown head and neck.
In eclipse plumage, the male resembles the female and the red eye is duller.
In non-breeding season, the canvasback is gregarious, and will form mixed species flocks with redheads and scaups.
Canvasbacks are omnivorous, diving underwater for plant tubers, seeds, buds, roots, snails and clams.
They can dive to depths of 2 metres to extract pieces of aquatic plants but will sometimes feed by dabbling just below the surface. They feed during the day and night.
Canvasbacks breed from south Alaska to Nebraska and Minnesota in lakes, deep-water marshes, bays, and ponds. In winter it migrates south to the mid-Atlantic United States and Mexico where it can be found on deep freshwater lakes and marshes and coastal regions.
