Ring-necked Duck
(Aythya collaris) Y |
 |
RANGE: Breeds in east-central and southeastern Alaska, and from
central British Columbia and northwestern and southern Mackenzie
to Newfoundland and Nova Scotia, south to northeastern
California, southeastern Arizona, northern Illinois, and
Massachusetts. Winters on the Pacific Coast from southeastern
Alaska, in the interior from southern Nevada to the lower
Mississippi and Ohio Valleys, and on the Atlantic Coast from New
England south through the southern United States to Panama.
STATUS: Common.
HABITAT: Inhabits shallow, dense bogs, swamps, and marshes,
especially those with sweetgale or leatherleaf cover, from 1 to
2,000 acres in size, typically having a pH range of 5.5 to 6.8,
and preferably near or in woodlands. It also uses small
potholes, sloughs, and beaver flowages near larger wooded lakes
or rivers with submerged and emergent vegetation. Winters on
fresh or brackish marshes, lakes, and estuaries, rarely on
strictly saline waters.
SPECIAL HABITAT REQUIREMENTS: Wetlands with an expanse of open
water. Strongest nesting habitat association at the edges
of freshwater marsh.
NEST: Nests on floating mats of vegetation, among hummocks, in
clumps of marsh vegetation or on islands, on relatively dry
sites usually within a few feet of water; seldom in emergent
vegetation over water.
FOOD: Prefers to feed in shallow water, usually less than 6 feet
deep. Consumes a diet that is 80 percent vegetative, consisting
mostly of a few plant groups; seeds, bulbs, and succulent parts
of waterlilies, pondweeds, sedges, grasses, and smartweeds. Also
consumes some aquatic insects and mollusks..
REFERENCES: Adamus et al. 2001, Bellrose 1976, DeGraff et al.
1980, Johnsgard 1975b, Mendall 1958, Miller 1999, Palmer 1976b,
Shunk 2004. |
