Family:
The redhead is a medium-sized diving duck with a rounded head, steep forehead with a bulging forecrown, and a moderately large bill. It is closely related to the common pochard. In breeding season, the male has grey upperparts and flanks, and a dark rump and tail which is cocked when resting. The breast is black, and the belly is white.
The head is cinnamon with a golden eye, and pale blue-grey bill with a broad, black tip, and a pale diffuse band separating the two colours. Out of breeding season, the head is brown.
The female has a dull brown body with a white belly. The head is pale brown with a slightly darker cap, and the bill is slate grey with a dark tip and blue band.
The redhead is also known as the red-headed duck, and the red-headed pochard.
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Redheads have a varied diet. In breeding season, they eat mainly animal matter such as gastropods, molluscs, and insect larvae. In winter, they switch to mainly plant matter including pondweeds, wild rice, grasses, and bulrushes.
They usually dive for food, although they tend to forage in shallower water than other diving ducks. They will also feed by tipping up like a dabbling duck.
Redheads are found across North America from Canada to the Caribbean, where they breed in seasonal wetlands. In winter, they migrate south to Central America and can be found in estuaries, lakes, coastal marshes, bays, and large areas of water near the coast.
2 Responses
Not Sure but think we saw male and female Redheads on the Long Water at Hampton Court yesterday 13 March. Thought they were Wigeon but they both dived under water completely out of sight for up to 10-20 seconds.
Redhead ducks 2 on langstone harbour today 8 am