Redhead

The Redhead is a medium-large diving duck with a rounded head shape and a short, blue-gray bill tipped in black, distinguishing it from the similarly colored but more elongated Canvasback. The breeding drake shows a bright rusty-red head, a black breast and rump, and a pale gray body.

Females are a soft, uniform brown with the same rounded head shape and blue-gray, black-tipped bill. The species is notable among North American ducks for its frequent habit of laying eggs in the nests of other ducks, a form of brood parasitism.

Key Field Marks

• Rounded head shape (peaked slightly at the rear of the crown) with a short blue-gray bill tipped black
• Breeding drake: bright rusty-red head, black breast and rump, gray body
• Female: uniform warm brown with the same head/bill shape
• Yellow eye (drake) versus dark eye (female)

Similar Species

The Canvasback has a long, sloping forehead-to-bill profile and a whitish (not gray) body, while the Redhead's head is rounded and its bill shorter. Female Redheads can resemble female scaup but lack the bold white face patch at the base of the bill shown by female scaup.

Redheads breed primarily in the prairie pothole region of the north-central United States and Canada, as well as scattered wetlands in the Great Basin, favoring marshes with a mix of open water and emergent vegetation. They winter on large lakes, reservoirs, and especially coastal bays and lagoons, with major wintering concentrations in places like the Laguna Madre of Texas and Mexico.

The species undertakes moderate-distance migrations between prairie breeding wetlands and coastal or large inland wintering waters.

Redheads are diving ducks, feeding on aquatic vegetation, seeds, and some invertebrates by diving in relatively shallow to moderate-depth water, though they also dabble at the surface at times. On wintering grounds they often form large, dense rafts on open water.

The male's call is a distinctive, cat-like "meow" or wheezy note given during courtship displays, quite different from typical duck vocalizations. Female Redheads frequently lay eggs in the nests of other Redheads or other duck species (including Canvasbacks and various dabbling ducks), a strategy called brood parasitism, in addition to also raising their own nests; this behavior can significantly boost the number of eggs a female contributes to the overall population in a season.