Ruddy Duck

Oxyura jamaicensis

Many of you know that wintertime is the time to see the “weird ducks,” and while there are many examples of strange-looking ducks on our Refuge and beyond in the wintertime, we thought we would focus on the brilliantly colored Ruddy Duck. Arriving in the fall and leaving in the spring, even known to nest here- the Ruddy Duck is a compact, thick-necked waterfowl with what looks like an oversized tail that is habitually held upright. Breeding males feature their sky-blue bill, bright white cheek patch, and shiny chestnut body. In the winter the males become more grey, and lose the blue bill, but you can tell they aren’t females by a horizontal gray line on their white cheek.

Ruddy Ducks spend the vast majority of their time on the water. They are fast fliers but have little maneuverability in the air, and they tend towards swimming and diving rather than flying to escape predators—which include Red-tailed Hawks, Great Horned Owls, mink, raccoons, and American crows.

Ruddy Ducks are very aggressive toward each other and toward other species, especially during the breeding season. Unlike most ducks, they form pairs only after arriving on the breeding grounds each year. Males perform unusual courtship displays in which they stick their tails straight up while striking their bills against their inflated necks, creating bubbles in the water as air is forced from their feathers. They punctuate the end of the display with a belch-like call. Courting males also lower their tails and run across the water, making popping sounds with their feet. Most males pair up with one female each for the duration of the breeding season, but some take multiple mates.

Their eggs are proportionally the largest of all waterfowl. The ducklings hatch well-developed and active, receiving minimal care from the mother and none from the father.

You might recognize the name Ruddy from Ruddy Lake, one of the lakes within Ridgefield Refuge, featured to your right on the Auto Tour Route between markers 6 and 7, before the restrooms. The Ruddy Duck is named this because the word Ruddy means “having a healthy red color.”

Ruddy Ducks breed in wetlands and reservoirs. Their breeding habitat includes large marshes, stock ponds, reservoirs, and deep natural basins. Migrating Ruddy Ducks stop in a variety of habitats, most often on large, permanent wetlands, lakes, and reservoirs.

Both adults and ducklings eat aquatic insects, crustaceans, zooplankton, and other invertebrates, along with small amounts of aquatic plants and seeds. They forage mostly by diving to the bottom of shallow ponds, straining mouthfuls of mud through thin plates on their bills and swallowing the prey items that are left behind. Occasionally they strain food from the surface of the water. Midge larvae form a large part of their diet. Plant material is more common in their diet during migration and winter than during the breeding season.

Did You Know? Pleistocene fossils of Ruddy Ducks, at least 11,000 years old, have been unearthed in Oregon, California, Virginia, Florida, and Illinois.

-Samantha Zeiner, Administrative Coordinator
Photos by Lyn Topinka