The ring-necked duck (''Aythya collaris'') is a

diving duck The diving ducks, commonly called pochards or scaups, are a category of duck which feed by diving beneath the surface of the water. They are part of Anatidae, the diverse and very large family that includes ducks, geese, and swans. The diving d ...

from North America commonly found in freshwater ponds and lakes. The scientific name is derived from

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

, an unidentified

seabird Seabirds (also known as marine birds) are birds that are adapted to life within the marine environment. While seabirds vary greatly in lifestyle, behaviour and physiology, they often exhibit striking convergent evolution, as the same enviro ...

mentioned by authors including Hesychius and

Aristotle Aristotle (; grc-gre, Ἀριστοτέλης ''Aristotélēs'', ; 384–322 BC) was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. Taught by Plato, he was the founder of the Peripatetic school of ph ...

, and

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

''collaris'', "of the neck" from ''collum'', "neck".

Description

Ring-necked ducks are small to medium-sized diving ducks with the following length, weight, and wingspan measurements: * Length: 15.3-18.1 in (39-46 cm) * Weight: 17.3-32.1 oz (490-910 g) * Wingspan: 24.4-24.8 in (62-63 cm) The adult male is similar in color pattern to the Eurasian

tufted duck The tufted duck or tufted pochard (''Aythya fuligula'') is a small diving duck with a population of close to one million birds, found in northern Eurasia. The scientific name is derived from Ancient Greek '' aithuia'', an unidentified seabird ment ...

, its relative. Males are a little bit bigger than the female. It has two white rings surrounding its gray bill, a shiny black angular head, black back, white line on the wings, a white breast and yellow eyes. The adult female has a grayish brown angular head and body with a dark brown back, a dark bill with a more subtle light band than the male, grayish-blue feet and brown eyes with white rings surrounding them. Females also make a noise like '. The cinnamon neck ring is usually difficult to observe, which is why the bird is sometimes referred to as a "ringbill".Bellrose, F. C., Hohman, W. L., Eberhardt, R. T., & Johnsgard, P. A. (n.d.). Duck Species Profile - Ring-necked Duck. Retrieved from National Wildlife Federation, eNature with support from Ducks Unlimited, & The Pew Charitable Trusts. (2007). Boreal Songbird Initiative: Ring-necked Duck. Retrieved from Boreal Songbird Initiative website: http://www.borealbirds.org/birdguide/bd0402_species.shtmlRing-necked Duck Facts, Figures, Description and Photo. (n.d.). Retrieved from Ducks Unlimited website: http://www.ducks.org/hunting/waterfowl-id/ring-necked-duck

Breeding and migration

Their breeding habitat is wooded lakes or ponds in the northern

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. The main breeding area is Northwest boreal forest territories. Their breeding habits also take place in the eastern boreal region of Canada but no where near the same amount in the northwestern region. In the winter months they are usually found in southern North America in lakes, ponds, rivers or bays. Ring-necked duck pairs start during spring migration. Unpaired ducks showing up on breeding grounds will most likely end up being non-breeders. The pairs stay together only for reproduction, after that, they separate. The nest is bowl-shaped, built on water in dense emergent vegetation with sedges and woody plants. The female lays one egg per day until 8 to 10 eggs are laid. They are incubated 25–29 days and the female may remain with the young until they are able to fly.

Diet

These birds are omnivores and feed mainly by diving or dabbling at the surface. Ducklings are dependent on animal matter such as insects, earthworms, leeches, midges and snails. As they mature they tend change their diet to submerged plants such as

pondweed Pondweed refers to many species and genera of aquatic plants and green algae: *''Potamogeton'', a diverse and worldwide genus *''Elodea'', found in North America *''Aponogeton'', in Africa, Asia and Australasia *''Groenlandia ''Groenlandia'' is ...

and coontail, and emergents such as annual wild rice and snails.

Vagrancy

This strong migrant is a rare but regular

vagrant Vagrancy is the condition of homelessness without regular employment or income. Vagrants (also known as bums, vagabonds, rogues, tramps or drifters) usually live in poverty and support themselves by begging, scavenging, petty theft, temporar ...

to western

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

. In Britain, occasional small flocks occur, including five at Loch Leven,

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

in September 2003 and four at

Standlake Standlake is a village and civil parish in West Oxfordshire about southeast of Witney and west of Oxford, England. The parish includes the hamlet of Brighthampton. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 1,497. The River Windru ...

in Oxfordshire in April 2015. In

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

one or two individuals can be seen at any time of year. Vagrant individuals also occur each year in

Central America Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Americas. Its boundaries are defined as bordering the United States to the north, Colombia to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. ...

as far south as Costa Rica between October/November and May/June. They have also been reported in small numbers in Suriname and

French Guiana French Guiana ( or ; french: link=no, Guyane ; gcr, label=French Guianese Creole, Lagwiyann ) is an overseas department/region and single territorial collectivity of France on the northern Atlantic coast of South America in the Guianas. ...

, in northern South America.

References

External links

Ring-necked Duck Species Account
– Cornell Lab of Ornithology

- USGS Patuxent Bird Identification InfoCenter
Ring-necked Duck
at eNature.com
Ring-necked Duck
at Mass Audubon Breeding Bird Atlas * * {{Taxonbar, from=Q601055 ring-necked duck ring-necked duck Birds of Canada Birds of Hispaniola Birds of the Dominican Republic Birds of Haiti Native birds of the Northwestern United States ring-necked duck