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 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 breeding in San Diego when I photographed a hen with a brood of young behind her at Whelan Lake in Oceanside California. They used the images I gathered at Whelan Lake in the publishing of the San Diego Natural History Museum’s book, “The San Diego County Bird Atlas”.

Redhead - Aythya americana — **Redhead**
*(Aythya americana)*

**Description:**
Male at the San Dieguito Slough, Del Mar, California. San Diego County 2008-03-24.
Read More

**Date Taken:** 2008:03:24 7:27

**Location:**

San Digito River
Del Mar, California
United States
9.84 ft above sea level

**Camera Information:**
NIKON D2X, 330 mm, f/5.6, 1/200

**File Name:** JCD3913RedHead

© 2008 - Jack Daynes - shadeTree Imaging

Tweet

Pin It — **Redhead**
*(Aythya americana)*

**Description:**
Male at the San Dieguito Slough, Del Mar, California. San Diego County 2008-03-24.
Read More

**Date Taken:** 2008:03:24 7:27

**Location:**

San Digito River
Del Mar, California
United States
9.84 ft above sea level

**Camera Information:**
NIKON D2X, 330 mm, f/5.6, 1/200

**File Name:** JCD3913RedHead

© 2008 - Jack Daynes - shadeTree Imaging

Tweet

Click map markers to reveal further information