Friday’s Feathered Friends- Ruddy’s got the Blues

Posted in Bird Photography, Birding in Nevada, Friday's Feathered FriendsTagged , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Copyright ©2024 Deborah M. Zajac. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. 

PLEASE DO NOT USE MY IMAGES WITHOUT EXPRESSED WRITTEN PERMISSION.

Things are changin’, Ruddy is showing off his Blues and Ruddy feathers for Spring and hoping he’s got what it takes to persuade a cute little female Ruddy Duck to be his love for the season.

Ruddy Duck in Breeding Plumage

Fun Facts:

    • Ruddy Ducks lay big, white, pebbly-textured eggs—the largest of all duck eggs relative to body size. Energetically expensive to produce, the eggs hatch into well-developed ducklings that require only a short period of care.
    • The bright colors and odd behavior of male Ruddy Ducks drew attention from early naturalists, though they didn’t pull any punches. One 1926 account states, “Its intimate habits, its stupidity, its curious nesting customs and ludicrous courtship performance place it in a niche by itself…. Everything about this bird is interesting to the naturalist, but almost nothing about it is interesting to the sportsman.”
    • Pleistocene fossils of Ruddy Ducks, at least 11,000 years old, have been unearthed in Oregon, California, Virginia, Florida, and Illinois.
    • Ruddy Ducks are very aggressive toward each other and toward other species, especially during the breeding season. They are even known to chase rabbits feeding on the shore.
    • Though Ruddy Ducks are native to the Americas, one population became established in England after captive ducks escaped in 1952. This population grew to about 3,500 individuals by 1992, and now appears to be expanding into the Netherlands, France, Belgium, and Spain.
    • Ruddy Ducks get harassed by Horned Grebes, Pied-billed Grebes, and American Coots during the breeding season. The grebes sometimes attack Ruddy Ducks from below the water, a behavior known as “submarining.”
    • The oldest Ruddy Duck on record was a male and at least 13 years, 7 months old when he was found in Oregon in 1964. He was banded in British Columbia in 1951.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=XDl8ZPm3GrU%3Fsi%3DJEgRM-P03a7JAHuU

Fun Facts gleaned from https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Ruddy_Duck/

Nikon D810| Nikkor 500mm PF| PS CC 25.4

more to come…

47 thoughts on “Friday’s Feathered Friends- Ruddy’s got the Blues”

  4. That’s a beautiful photo. He’s really going all out for that potential mate. I would think having “…nothing about it is interesting to the sportsman” might be a good thing.

    Perfect song for the photo!

    I hope you have a great weekend.

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  20. Look at that bill! I’ve been lucky enough to spot a couple of these, but they weren’t all decked out for breeding season. The bill was obviously blue, but the color was far more muted, as were the body feathers. I’ve noticed some of our egrets putting on their fancy plumage, too. It won’t be long until the coots start fighting among themselves!

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    1. The majority of the time I’ve seen them they’re not in full breeding plumage, but I have seen the blue bill many times before. This sighting was a real treat. I think he’s an early bird this year. The other male Ruddy ducks in the pond weren’t showing signs of changing their plumage yet their feathers were still brown and no blue bills that I saw and there were quite a few Ruddy’s in the pond.

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