Ruddy Duck Images

Ruddy Duck Images, Facts and Information:

Oxyura jamaicensis

  • Ruddy Ducks are compact, diving ducks with short necks and stiff tails that they hold upright quite often. In breeding plumage the males have blue bills, bright white cheek patches, black caps and chestnut colored bodies. The females are brown and have a brown streak across pale cheeks.
  • Ruddy Ducks are migratory.
  • During the breeding season Ruddy Ducks prefer prairie potholes, marshes, reservoirs and ponds in the western U.S., southwestern Canada, scattered locations in the eastern U.S. and the Caribbean. During the winter they can be found in the southern parts of their breeding range and further south into Mexico and Central America.
  • Ruddy Ducks eat aquatic insects, zooplankton, crustaceans and other invertebrates.
  • Ruddy Ducks lay 3 to 13 eggs which hatch in 20 to 26 days. The female incubates and they are monogamous.
  • A group of ducks can be called a “raft”, “paddling”, “flush” or “brace” of ducks.
  • Ruddy Ducks can live to be more than 13 years old.

I hope you enjoy viewing my Ruddy Duck photos.

Back to Swans, Geese and Ducks
Back to Birds