Adult female and breeding adult male. Photo: Bill Dix/Audubon Photography Awards
Aythya americana
| Conservation status | Total population is evidently far below original levels, a sharper decline than for most ducks. Loss of nesting habitat is probably the main cause. |
|---|---|
| Family | Ducks and Geese |
| Habitat | Lakes, saltwater bays, estuaries; in summer, fresh marshes. For nesting season favors large marshes in prairies or intermountain valleys. Migrants gather on large lakes. In winter, mainly on coastal bays and lagoons, also on freshwater lakes inland. |
forages by diving, usually in water a few feet deep, or by dabbling and up-ending in very shallow water. In winter on shallow coastal lagoons may do most feeding by simply dipping head underwater.
usually 9-14, although true "normal" clutch size difficult to determine. Dull white to pale olive buff. Incubation is by female only, 23-29 days. Young: female leads young away from nest about a day they hatch. Young feed themselves; capable of flight at about 60-65 days.
female leads young away from nest about a day they hatch. Young feed themselves; capable of flight at about 60-65 days.
aquatic plants, insects. Diet is mainly leaves, stems, seeds, and roots of aquatic plants: shoalgrass, pondweeds, smartweeds, sedges, waterlilies, and others. Also eats many aquatic insects, especially in summer, plus mollusks, rarely small fish.
Nest site is in dense marsh (especially bulrushes) above shallow water, occasionally on dry ground. Bulky nest is built up of dead vegetation and anchored to standing growth, lined with down. Nesting is complicated by parasitic tendencies, typically laying eggs in nests of other Redheads and other waterbirds. Most females apparently are semi-parasites, laying several eggs in nests of other birds, then raising a clutch of their own. Several may lay eggs in a nest that is never incubated; such "dump nests" have been reported with up to 87 eggs.
Audubon’s scientists have used 140 million bird observations and sophisticated climate models to project how climate change will affect this bird’s range in the future.
Zoom in to see how this species’s current range will shift, expand, and contract under increased global temperatures.
Choose a temperature scenario below to see which threats will affect this species as warming increases. The same climate change-driven threats that put birds at risk will affect other wildlife and people, too.
When the Chesapeake Bay's eelgrass forests disappeared, Atlantic Brant lost a major food source. Decades of work have helped reverse those losses.
Focus on size, head shape, and body color to distinguish these deluxe ducks.
As seagrass rebounds in the Chesapeake Bay, scientists are cautiously optimistic about bird populations, too.
Let us send you the latest in bird and conservation news.
Visit your local Audubon center, join a chapter, or help save birds with your state program.
Membership benefits include one year of Audubon magazine and the latest on birds and their habitats. Your support helps secure a future for birds at risk.
Our email newsletter shares the latest programs and initiatives.
