Male Ring-necked Ducks (Aythya collaris) are rather odd ducks. They have an unusual pointed head and striking yellow eyes. However, they have a striped pattern on their bills that make them pretty easy to identify. Although they paddle about a lot like dabbling ducks, they will periodically dive to the bottom to eat submerged plants and aquatic invertebrates.
Despite their name, it is unusual to be able to see the chestnut collar on a Ring-necked Duck’s black neck. According to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, the ring is “not a good field mark to use for identifying the bird, but it jumped out to the nineteenth century biologists that described the species using dead specimens.”
Like several other species that I have featured recently, this Ring-necked Duck was part of a small flock that I spotted swimming about in a small suburban pond not far from where I live. Sometimes in the winter I will make a quick visit to this pond when I to experience nature, but don’t have the time to devote to a trip to the larger wildlife refuges in my area.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
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