Ring-necked Duck - Photos by Bruce Dayton - Ring-necked Duck (Aythya collaris)

ORDER: Anseriformes
FAMILY: Anatidae (Ducks and Geese - 52 Species)
SUB-FAMILY: Anatinae
SPECIES: Ring-necked Duck (Aythya collaris)

Ring-necked Duck (Aythya collaris)
The Ring-necked Ducks are less susceptible to loss of breeding habitat than other ducks. They breed in areas of minimal agricultural significance and human disturbance. The chestnut colored neck ring from which the bird derives its name is difficult to see. It is obvious only if you have one in hand. It is speculated that when named that this is how it received that name.
SIZE	The Ring-necked Duck is a medium-sized (15-18”) diving duck.
DESCRIPTION	Male: The adult male has a gray bill with a white band, a shiny purple head, a white breast, yellow eyes and a dark gray/black back. Also a white triangle in front of the folded wing, angular shaped head and uniformly dark wings. The cinnamon neck ring is usually difficult to observe. Female: The adult female has an angular, pale brown head and body with a dark brown back, a dark bill with a white (subtle light) band near the bill tip with brown eyes and white-eye rings.
NESTING	Clutch size ranges from 8-12 eggs, which are incubated in 25 to 29 days. The female chooses the site and builds the nest in dense emergent vegetation on the edge of a pond or in an open marsh. The nest is a shallow bowl of vegetation and down.
RANGE	The Ring-necked Duck predominately breeds in the western Boreal Forest, Northern USA and Canada. They winter over in Washington Pacific coastline to California, the Gulf coastline, New York south to Florida.
HABITAT	They habitat wooded lakes or shallow wetlands fringed with emergent, submerged or floating vegetation. They are generally shallow divers when feeding, so do not require deep water.
DIET	Ring-necked Ducks are usually considered to be vegetarian. Typically about 70-80 percent of the diet consists of aquatic plants, such as seeds, pondweeds and tubers, and pondweeds. They also eat some mollusks, aquatic insects and small fish.

Please email with any ideas or comments concerning this web page.

The images on this web page are copyrighted © 2003 - 2007 by Bruce Dayton. I want to share my photos to promote conservation and to help people identify and learn about the birds and other creatures that live with us on the North American continent. Please do not use any of my work in any non-profit or for-profit project without first getting written permission from me. You can ask for permission by emailing me at webmaster@wildlifeofnorthamerica.info. All reproductions must bear an appropriate credit.




Ring-necked Duck

Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge Seneca County, New York


RNDk_076T_023140	RNDk_076T_023163


RNDk_076T_023143


Female	Male

Whip-poor-will Drawing by Louis Agassiz Fuertes