Redheads are exactly what these medium-sized diving birds are. They have a striking red head, contrasting with a black throat and chest and a gray body. Their bill is blue-gray with a black tip.
Females share the same bill but are otherwise brown all over.
- Aythya americana
- Length: 18 – 22 in (46 – 56 cm)
- Weight: 43.03 oz (1219 g)
- Wingspan: 29 – 35 in (74 – 89 cm)
Range
Redheads breed in western Canada, Alaska, and western US states before migrating for winter to southern US states, the east coast of the US, Mexico, and the Caribbean.
Habitat And Diet
You can find Redheads in marshes, open lakes, reedy ponds, and bays where the water is deep enough to dive and root out plant vegetation. In winter, they migrate to coastal shorelines with calm waters or to reservoirs and estuaries.
Redheads dive for food, but they don’t go as deep as other ducks. Their movement may be more similar to dabbling. They eat a lot of plant vegetation when it’s not the breeding season.
Their food includes seeds, tubers of pondweeds, water lilies, and grasses. Breeding season means they eat a lot of animals like mollusks, insects, and small fish.
Redhead Calls:
Male Redhead
Female Redhead
Nests
Nests of Redheads are formed by the females over or near the water. They are thick and bulky, made out of plant stems, cattails, and sedges. Redheads lay nine to fourteen eggs, but there are times when they lay their eggs in other ducks’ nests.
The incubation of the eggs lasts for about a month.
Fun Fact:
Redheads can form large flocks of thousands in two Gulf of Mexico bays during winter.
