We are independent & ad-supported. We may earn a commission for purchases made through our links.
Advertiser Disclosure
Our website is an independent, advertising-supported platform. We provide our content free of charge to our readers, and to keep it that way, we rely on revenue generated through advertisements and affiliate partnerships. This means that when you click on certain links on our site and make a purchase, we may earn a commission. Learn more.
How We Make Money
We sustain our operations through affiliate commissions and advertising. If you click on an affiliate link and make a purchase, we may receive a commission from the merchant at no additional cost to you. We also display advertisements on our website, which help generate revenue to support our work and keep our content free for readers. Our editorial team operates independently of our advertising and affiliate partnerships to ensure that our content remains unbiased and focused on providing you with the best information and recommendations based on thorough research and honest evaluations. To remain transparent, we’ve provided a list of our current affiliate partners here.
Birds

Our Promise to you

Founded in 2002, our company has been a trusted resource for readers seeking informative and engaging content. Our dedication to quality remains unwavering—and will never change. We follow a strict editorial policy, ensuring that our content is authored by highly qualified professionals and edited by subject matter experts. This guarantees that everything we publish is objective, accurate, and trustworthy.

Over the years, we've refined our approach to cover a wide range of topics, providing readers with reliable and practical advice to enhance their knowledge and skills. That's why millions of readers turn to us each year. Join us in celebrating the joy of learning, guided by standards you can trust.

What Is the Ruddy Duck?

By Jillian O Keeffe
Updated: Jun 04, 2024
Views: 8,943
References
Share

The Ruddy duck is a diving duck native to the Americas. The male duck has a reddish body coloration during the summer months, but the female has duller coloration with no hint of red all year round. In the colder months, the duck lives in coastal areas and marshlands, but prefers freshwater for the warmer portion of the year. Ruddy ducks are able to interbreed with other species of duck such as the white-headed duck, and so can be a cause for ecological concern in countries where it is not considered a native.

Unusually for a duck that likes diving for food, the Ruddy duck has a tail that appears stiff and that the duck tends to hold up out of the water. Instead of diving under, the duck can also slip under the water easily, which may be helpful as a way of unobtrusively avoiding predators. As the birds are most comfortable in the water, they appear uncoordinated on land. A male Ruddy duck is generally more colorful than the female, with a red body, blue-colored bill and black and white head. The female is mostly brownish gray with a gray bill.

Both North and South America are home to the Ruddy duck, which has the scientific name of Oxyura jamaicensis. For the breeding season in the summer, the ducks live in Canada, the United States or even Mexico, but in winter, they move to a range between the southern states of the U.S and El Salvador. The female of the species chooses her nesting place, which is generally close to water. She constructs the nest and makes a roof over it from old vegetation to make it invisible to potential predators. Typically, the female puts most of the effort into guarding the eggs and looking after the chicks.

Predators of the Ruddy duck include hawks and foxes, and the young are vulnerable to mink, raccoons and predatory birds like herons. People also hunt the ducks for meat, as the populations of the birds are, as of 2011, at healthy levels. The Ruddy ducks themselves eat a mixture of plant and animal food, which they find in water, such as crustaceans, larvae and seeds.

In the 1940s, Ruddy ducks found their way to Europe, perhaps as an ornamental import. Some European countries where the bird is regarded as a threat to native ecology actively attempt to eradicate the ducks. For example, a cull began in 2003 in the U.K. of the birds, as they were interbreeding with white-headed ducks in Spain and reducing the natural population of those birds, which were under threat.

Share
All Things Nature is dedicated to providing accurate and trustworthy information. We carefully select reputable sources and employ a rigorous fact-checking process to maintain the highest standards. To learn more about our commitment to accuracy, read our editorial process.
Link to Sources
Discussion Comments
Share
https://www.allthingsnature.org/what-is-the-ruddy-duck.htm
Copy this link
All Things Nature, in your inbox

Our latest articles, guides, and more, delivered daily.

All Things Nature, in your inbox

Our latest articles, guides, and more, delivered daily.