Redhead
Aythya americana

The Redhead is a diving duck, related to the Canvasback, the Ring-Necked Duck and the Greater and Lesser Scaup. Some people call this group pochards. Most Redheads are summer breeders in Canada’s prairie provinces and south into the northern midwestern USA, but some Redheads breed as far north as Alaska. Some of their population are year-round residents in California’s Central Valley, Southern British Columbia and eastern Washington state, parts of the northern Great Basin, in Wyoming, in the Texas panhandle, and even in southern Mexico. During winter, most of these ducks go south to the lower latitudes of the USA and south as far as Yucatan in Mexico.
More than most other ducks, Redheads will lay their eggs in other nests, usually other ducks. Science calls this practice brood parasitism, a well known and despised practice of cowbirds and Eurasian cuckoos. While other ducks are the usual victims of this practice, other bird species have been the recipients of these “gifts”.
I found proof of Redheads breeding in San Diego County when I photographed a hen with a brood of young behind her at Whelan Lake in Oceanside (California). The San Diego Natural History Museum used some of the images I gathered at Whelan Lake in the publishing of their book, “The San Diego County Bird Atlas“.
Modern science considers the Redhead as monotypic (i.e. there are no subspecies).
During my visits to Texas, I found Redheads in many of the bays and lagoons along the Gulf coast, but I didn’t seem to find them as bold as the birds I met near my home in southern California.

Redhead(Aythya americana) |
Description: Male at the San Dieguito Slough, Del Mar, California. San Diego County 2008-03-24. |
Date Taken: 2008:03:24 7:27 |
Location:
San Digito River |
Camera Information: NIKON D2X, 330 mm, f/5.6, 1/200 |
File Name: JCD3913RedHead |
© 2008 - Jack Daynes - shadeTree Imaging |


Redhead(Aythya americana) |
Description: Female at the San Dieguito Slough, Del Mar, California. San Diego County 2008-03-24. |
Date Taken: 2008:03:24 7:27 |
Camera Information: NIKON D2X, 550 mm, f/5.6, 1/320 |
File Name: JCD3934RedHead |
© 2008 - Jack Daynes - shadeTree Imaging |


Redhead(Aythya americana) |
Description: Female at the San Dieguito Slough, Del Mar, California. San Diego County 2008-03-24. |
Date Taken: 2008:03:24 7:28 |
Camera Information: NIKON D2X, 550 mm, f/5.6, 1/320 |
File Name: JCD3942RedHead |
© 2008 - Jack Daynes - shadeTree Imaging |


Redhead(Aythya americana) |
Description: Pair at the San Dieguito Slough, Del Mar, California. San Diego County 2008-03-24. |
Date Taken: 2008:03:24 7:29 |
Camera Information: NIKON D2X, 440 mm, f/5.6, 1/350 |
File Name: JCD3958RedHead |
© 2008 - Jack Daynes - shadeTree Imaging |


Redhead(Aythya americana) |
Description: Pair at "The Ponds" adjacent to Beeler Creek. Poway California. San Diego County 2010-01-06. |
Date Taken: 2010:01:06 11:09 |
Camera Information: NIKON D2X, 800 mm, f/5.6, 1/1250 |
File Name: JCD4856.RedHead |
© 2010 - Jack Daynes - shadeTree Imaging |


Redhead(Aythya americana) |
Description: Pair at "The Ponds" adjacent to Beeler Creek. Poway California. San Diego County 2010-01-06. |
Date Taken: 2010:01:06 11:11 |
Location:
Poway Grove Park |
Camera Information: NIKON D2X, 800 mm, f/5.6, 1/800 |
File Name: JCD4869.RedHead |
© 2010 - Jack Daynes - shadeTree Imaging |


Redhead(Aythya americana) |
Description: Pair at "The Ponds" adjacent to Beeler Creek. Poway California. San Diego County 2010-01-06. |
Date Taken: 2010:01:06 11:15 |
Location:
Poway Grove Park |
Camera Information: NIKON D2X, 800 mm, f/5.6, 1/640 |
File Name: JCD4880.RedHead |
© 2010 - Jack Daynes - shadeTree Imaging |


Redhead(Aythya americana) |
Description: Female at "The Ponds" adjacent to Beeler Creek. Poway California. San Diego County 2010-01-06. |
Date Taken: 2010:01:06 11:27 |
Location:
Poway Grove Park |
Camera Information: NIKON D2X, 800 mm, f/5.6, 1/800 |
File Name: JCD4944.RedHead |
© 2010 - Jack Daynes - shadeTree Imaging |


Redhead(Aythya americana) |
Description: This image helped document the breeding of this species for the San Diego County Bird Atlas. Whelan Lake. Near Oceanside, California. Northern San Diego County. |
Date Taken: 2003:05:18 8:06 |
Location:
Whelan Lake |
Camera Information: |
File Name: A3E18c07-RedHead-Family |
© 2003 Jack Daynes, shadeTree Imaging |


Redhead(Aythya americana) |
Description: Cut-out image of a pair at "The Ponds" adjacent to Beeler Creek. Poway California. San Diego County 2010-01-06. |
Date Taken: 2010:01:06 11:09 |
Location:
Poway Grove Park |
Camera Information: NIKON D2X, 800 mm, f/5.6, 1/1250 |
File Name: Cut_JCD4856.RedHead |
© 2010 Jack Daynes, shadeTree Imaging |


Redhead(Aythya americana) |
Description: Large open water ponds here attracted ducks and geese. Lee Metcalf NWR in the Bitterroot Valley near Stevensville, Montana. |
Date Taken: 2015:05:27 11:08 |
Location:
Lee Metcalf NWR |
Camera Information: NIKON D3X, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/4000 |
File Name: D3X5150-RedHead |
© 2015 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |


Redhead(Aythya americana) |
Description: These Redhead ducks were rather shy and prefered to keep their distance from me. I met these birds after my third day of exploration of Aransas NWR aboard the "Skimmer". There was still time left in the day for explorations. I found a nice place to park next to Little Bay and photograph local resident birds. |
Date Taken: 2020:03:17 18:06 |
Location:
Little Bay |
Camera Information: NIKON D500, 550 mm, f/8.0, 1/1000 |
File Name: Redhead_D505516-Rockport-TX |
© 2020 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |


Redhead(Aythya americana) |
Description: This lone Redhead was part of the collection of ducks taking handouts of bread from children on the dock by the library building. It was a lovely day at the Gilbert Water Ranch. The weather was mild, and the winds were calm. Gilbert is in the Greater Phoenix area of Arizona. |
Date Taken: 2020:11:11 12:39 |
Location:
Gilbert Water Ranch |
Camera Information: NIKON D5, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/2000 |
File Name: Redhead_D5X8979-GilbertWaterRanch |
© 2020 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |


Redhead(Aythya americana) |
Description: This lone Redhead was part of the collection of ducks taking handouts of bread from children on the dock by the library building. It was a lovely day at the Gilbert Water Ranch. The weather was mild, and the winds were calm. Gilbert is in the Greater Phoenix area of Arizona. |
Date Taken: 2020:11:11 12:38 |
Location:
Gilbert Water Ranch |
Camera Information: NIKON D5, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/4000 |
File Name: Redhead_D5X8963-GilbertWaterRanch |
© 2020 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |


Redhead(Aythya americana) |
Description: This hen was working the piling of the docks near where we boarded our boat. My third day of exploration of Aransas NWR was a memorable one. I boarded the tour boat the "Skimmer" and got schooled by Captain Tommy Moore on a three plus hour cruise of the back-bays and waterways beyond the view of the public from the tour roads on the reserve. |
Date Taken: 2020:03:17 8:42 |
Location:
Fulton Harbor |
Camera Information: NIKON D500, 550 mm, f/8.0, 1/1000 |
File Name: Redhead_D503409-BoatRide-Aransas-NWR |
© 2020 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |


Redhead(Aythya americana) |
Description: Usually found in freshwater in the summer, Redheads (ducks) populate the salty lagunas in south Texas. There are wetlands that the South Padre Island Convention Centre (free access) and the Birding & Nature Center (admission fee required) share. My previous visits to the wetlands had been to the Convention Centre. On this day I would find out why folks pay money to see the marsh, when there is free access next door. |
Date Taken: 2021:02:08 9:37 |
Location:
South Padre Island WBC |
Camera Information: NIKON D5, 800 mm, f/11.0, 1/800 |
File Name: RedHead_D5X0030SouthPadre-WBC |
© 2021 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |


Redhead(Aythya americana) |
Description: Usually found in freshwater in the summer, Redheads (ducks) populate the salty lagunas in south Texas. There are wetlands that the South Padre Island Convention Centre (free access) and the Birding & Nature Center (admission fee required) share. My previous visits to the wetlands had been to the Convention Centre. On this day I would find out why folks pay money to see the marsh, when there is free access next door. |
Date Taken: 2021:02:08 9:40 |
Location:
South Padre Island WBC |
Camera Information: NIKON D5, 800 mm, f/11.0, 1/1000 |
File Name: Redhead_D5X0157SouthPadre-WBC |
© 2021 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |

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