I Took this picture of a Redhead at the Lake Mead Marina on 02/10/2011. Though I have seen them before, I never knew what they were called until I looked it up on the Internet.
Description: Redheads are slightly smaller than mallards and darker than canvasbacks. Known for its dramatic flight maneuvers, redheads sometimes drop from impressive heights at tremendous speed. The adult male, or Drake, has a blue bill, a red head and neck, a black breast, yellow or orange eyes and a grey back. The adult female has a brown head and body and a darker bluish bill with a black tip. Hens look similar to Scaup hens and have a white ringed bill. The hens are relatively late nesters and often lay their eggs in the nests of other ducks. The breeding habitat is marshes and prairie potholes in western North America. Loss of nesting habitat has led to sharply declining populations. Females regularly lay eggs in the nests of other Redheads or other ducks, especially Canvasbacks. Redheads usually take new mates each year, starting to pair in late winter. Following the breeding season, males go through a molt which leaves them flightless for almost a month. Before this happens, they leave their mates and move to large bodies of water, usually flying further north. They overwinter in the southern and north-eastern United State, the Great Lakes region, northern Mexico and the Caribbean. |
