365 Urban Species. #302: Ruddy Duck

[urbpan]

Photos by cottonmanifesto

Urban species #302: Ruddy duck Oxyura jamaicensis

Yesterday, we spotted our first winter duck on Leverett Pond. Leverett Pond is a widening of the muddy river between Boston and Brookline, in Olmsted Park. Because of its width, and the fact that it is fed by relatively warm, salty, and polluted water from storm drains and street runoff, Leverett Pond never fully freezes. Many different duck species converge there in wintertime, having left summer breeding places in Canada. Some ducks are only there for a few days or weeks, leaving to find better food resources, less crowded water, or fewer human disturbances, but many come in fall and stay until early spring. The ruddy ducks are usually there for a few months.

Ruddy ducks are small diving ducks with distinctive upturned tails. Their name comes from the male's reddish breeding plumage. As the male's feathers get ruddy, his bill gets blue, a feature that our duck is hiding from us here. You'll have to go peek at someone else's site to see that. Ruddy ducks dive under the water to catch insect larvae and mollusks, and to graze on aquatic plants. This duck species has been introduced to Britain, where it hybridizes with the closely related, and endangered, white-headed duck (O. leucocephala).

Comments

[deathling.livejournal.com]

Aw he's so FAT.

Ruddy ducks

[(Anonymous)]

I live in cold lake alberta and own 3 ruddy ducks 2 boys and 1 girl, I found them Sept 1st 2007 they were only one day old, Their mother left them behind because they were born to late. They are so very beautiful and can learn so much more then people give them credit for. I have them in my house but I must now find a good home for them mabe a zoo or something because they deserve so much more then I can give them. I would never put them back into the wild they are not afraid or dogs or cats or much of anything. plus they never got a chance to learn how to fly they would be defenseless.