Redheads by Redheads
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Habitats include marshes, ponds, lakes and bays.
One of the birds that utilize 'dump nests'.
I read a report of 87 eggs in one nest.
Redheads have been reduced in numbers due to development and drought.
Hunting bans in some areas have helped with their potential future success.
Hope I've got the identification of this Duck correct. Let me know if I made a mistake.
Male Redheads are a dapper mixture of cinnamon head, black breast and tail, and neat gray body. Females and immatures are a plain, mostly uniform brown. Redheads have black-tipped, gray bills, and in flight they show gray flight feathers.
Redheads flock together on lakes and other bodies of water but migrate in pairs, which are formed in December or January through elaborate courtship rituals. Unpaired redheads migrate together in a “courting party” that can be up to 25 individuals strong, enabling them to find a mate within the group.
The pair bonds are established yearly through a long courtship process. Males begin this process through neck-kinking and head throwing displays while emitting a cat-like call. If interested, the female produces inciting calls towards the male while performing alternate lateral and chin lifting movements. The male then swims ahead of her and turns the back of his head towards the female. Once courtship is finished, the two birds are paired for the year. The male initiates copulation by alternating bill dipping and preening dorsally towards the female, upon which the female may return to the male.
Redheads breed mainly in seasonal wetlands such as the prairie pothole region of the Midwest. In migration and winter they group into large flocks on the Gulf Coast, as well as along the Great Lakes and in lakes, reservoirs, bays, and along coastlines across the southern U.S.
(Nikon Z8, 500/5.6, 1/500 @ f5.6, ISO 560, edited to taste)
A photo of a 'Hot Papaya' echinacea captured at the Enabling Garden in Altoona, Iowa. I shot this just after sunrise on a cloudy morning without my tripod, so my ISO is quite high, but I thought it was still a decent capture.
Developed with Darktable 3.6.0.
The Redhead (Aythya americana) is an attractive diving duck. Males have a brown head and a grey back. The head is brighten up during breeding season, hence the common name. Females are less showy in a pale brown dress. My understanding that these are not regular visitors to the UK, though they feel at home here at Slimbridge WWT. Gloucestershire; England; UK.
Thank you for your visit, comments and favours, very much appreciated.
A Redheaded Woodpecker takes a split-second break from hunting the cracks and crevasses to check its six for the approaching threat…me.
Taken at Lincoln State Park, Lincoln City Indiana on 23 May, 2022.