Ruddy duck
Images copyright by Mark A. Chappell
For much of the year, ruddy ducks of both sexes exhibit a rather drab brownish-gray plumage (below), but in spring the males take on the bright colors shown here: deep red bodies, black breasts and tails, white cheeks, and insanely blue bills. They are quite territorial and display vigorously to each other with posturing, head-bobs, odd calls, and aggressive charges across the water. This bird was on a small pond near Santee, San Diego County, California. The less colorful winter and female plumage is shown below at left (near Palo Alto, California); several more displaying males are at the bottom of the page (also taken at Santee Lakes); a winter-plumage male is at the extreme bottom.
