< Back | Name: | Ring-necked Duck | | Family: | Diving Ducks | | Scientific Name:
| Aythya collaris | | Description: | Medium-sized duck with white ring around a grayish bill. Drakes have a black head, chest, back and rump and gray sides. A faint chestnut-colored collar can be seen from close range. Hens are drab brown with white cheeks and white rings around the eyes. Also called “ringnecks” and “ringbills.” | | Habit: | This diving duck can be found anywhere from large open-water impoundments to flooded rice fields. Ring-necked ducks feed on small aquatic animals and plants. Ringnecks nest from northern California to eastern Canada. Hens lay 8-10 eggs in a ground nest of vegetation and down in flooded areas. | |
State Occurrence:
| Common in the Delta during winter. Ringnecks are the most commonly observed diving ducks in flooded agricultural fields and swampy areas. |
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Click Photo to Enlarge USFWS Male |
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