Redhead

1/320s at f14.0, ISO:800, Canon Mark IV 1D w/800mm, x1.4 coverter


The Redhead is a medium-sized diving duck. 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 over winter in the southern and north-eastern United States, the Great Lakes region, northern Mexico and the Caribbean. These birds feed mainly by diving or dabbling. They mainly eat aquatic plants with some molluscs, aquatic insects and small fish.
Calgary, Canada
 
05/20/2012