Ring-Necked Duck

Description: Ring-necked ducks have a more angled head shape, white areas on their bill, and darker wings than the female ring-necked duck. Parts of the male’s wings are similar to the females, however the female actually looks similar to a female redhead. They are smaller though with amore angled head shape too, and they have a lighter colored face. Male ring-necked ducks have an iridescent head with dark feathers that span down their neck and chest. Their stomachs and sides are light gray or white and they have a white section on the top area of their wings when folded next to their bodies. The bill is gray colored with a white trim where it meets the head and has a dark black tip.

They get their name because they have a light brown ring at the bottom of their neck. Their feet and legs are gray and blue with yellow or orange eyes. Female ring-necked ducks have brown feathers on their head with a dark black section on the top of their heads, lighter tan sides to their head, and a white ring around their eyes. They have a thing white line that runs from their eyes down their back. Their bill is gray and they have a white tip. Their neck, sides, and back are brown and they have a white stomach. Their feet and legs are grayish blue and they have dark brown eyes.

Breeding: Ring-necked ducks breed in Alaska and across northern Canadian provinces, down from Alaska to California, over through much of the mid-US states. They like grassy marshes and swamps, bogs, flooded grasslands, and areas that have forests nearby. The females will build a nest out of grass, reeds, and sticks where she will lay about 9 eggs per nesting season.

Migrating and Wintering: Most ring-necked ducks will migrate along the Central Flyway or Mississippi Flyway down to areas around the Gulf States, as well as over to some Atlantic states. For winter seasons, ring-necked ducks will live in a number of areas such as swamps, marshes, lakes, sloughs, and estuaries.

Food habits: Ring-necked ducks will dive for food where they’ll eat aquatic vegetation, nuts, seeds, grasses, bugs, mollusks, and a wide variety of marine invertebrates.

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