#canvasback

[antiqueanimals]

Alfred Joseph Casson (Canadian, 1898 - 1992) The Canvas-Back, circa 1930. Colour silkscreen on paper.

Mayberry Fine Art

[herpsandbirds]

Canvasback (Aythya valisineria), male, family Anatidae, order Anseriformes

Breeds across parts of Alaska, western Canada, and the NW US.

Winters over much of the US and Mexico.

photograph by Valerie Fellows/USFWS

[todaysbird]

the canvasback is the largest species of diving duck found in north america. they are similar in size to the more common mallard, but are heavier and more compact. apart from the distinct light gray side/‘back’ that gives them their name, males have a chestnut red head and neck, with a black chest, rump, and blackish-brown tail. hens have similarly colored sides, interspersed with some brown, but are a light dusky brown on the head and neck. the canvasback’s breeding habitat is prairie ‘potholes’, or marshy wetlands found interspersed in some prairie habitat, along with some subarctic river deltas found in sasketchewan & alaska. canvasbacks typically rear clutches of 5-11 eggs; their nests are frequently parasitized by the smaller redhead duck, leading to canvasbacks being spotted often with mixed-species broods. canvasbacks are also known to lay their eggs in preexisting nests of their species. they primarily feed by diving, assisted by their heavy weight in comparison to many other ducks; they feed on tubers, insect larvae, snails, and other underwater plant matter. the canvasback’s diet can at times be 100% composed of sago pondweed, one of their favorite foods. they’re also known for a strong preference for wild celery, which is reflected in the duck’s scientific name (aythya valisineria - wild celery’s scientific name is vallisneria americana). canvasbacks were hunted heavily during the early 20th century, and had declining available food sources as aquatic acreage was developed. they faced a steep population decline, which was primarily blamed on a lack of appropriate food. today, populations are once again stable and even increasing in some areas.

[spinus-pinus]

Canvasback Aythya valisineria

1/8/2023 Los Angeles County, California

A very beautiful partially leucistic female canvasback!

[iridescent-wildlife]

Canvasback (Aythya valisineria). Family Anatidae, order Anseriformes.

Stillwater, Oklahoma, USA. February 2023.

[randomanimaloftheday]

Day 253#: Canvasback

Today's animal of the day is the Canvasback (Aythya valisineria)!

Photo credit: Frank Schulenburg

This species of duck can be found throughout North America and is the largest species of diving duck on the continent. Their common name comes from the white sides, back, and belly of the males, which somewhat resembles a canvas and really stands out against the black rump and chestnut head and neck. They also have bright red eyes. Females have light brown feathers on their heads and necks, which darken further down on their bodies, and they lack the red eyes of the males. They are similar in size to mallard ducks, but are heavier with a more compact build to help with diving. They also have a distinct wedge-shaped head and a rather sloped posture, which helps to set them apart from other ducks.

Photo credit: David Disher

Unlike dabbling ducks, which float along the surface of the water feeding on whatever vegetation they find there, canvasbacks will dive under the water in search of their food. Their diet consists mostly of buds, leaves, tubers, roots, and various types of aquatic invertebrates. Wild celery is one of their favorite foods, and they rely heavily on the plant's buds during the winter when there's not much else to eat. In fact, they eat so much of it that their species name, A. valisineria, is a reference to the scientific name for wild celery: Vallisneria americana. They dislodge the celery and other water plants, using their special bills, which are perfectly adapted to dig up tubers and buds from underwater substrate.

Photo credit: Sean Fitzgerald

These birds spend the winter months down in the southern portions of the United States and Mexico, but during the breeding season, they migrate up north to parts of Canada, as well as Alaska and a few of the other northernmost states. They prefer to nest in prairie potholes, which are a series of shallow wetlands surrounded by prairies that were created by glacier activity during the Ice Age. They build their nests in areas with lots of cattails, bulrushes, or other tall vegetation to provide them with cover, and will lay anywhere from 5 to 11 greenish eggs.

Photo credit: Donna Dewhurst

Sadly, due to a combination of overhunting and habitat loss, the canvasback population has fluctuated wildly since the mid-19th century. They were hunted extensively in the Chesapeake Bay area, which was an important wintering ground for the species that, at one point, contained around half of the entire population. They were considered a particularly tasty delicacy, which was attributed to the fact that they "seasoned themselves" with all the wild celery that they ate. By the end of the century, the birds had been hunted so much that they were considered a rare and expensive luxury.

Photo credit: Dick Daniels

Luckily, thanks to various laws and regulations, the canvasback population was able to bounce back in the 1990s, and today, they are considered "of least concern" by the IUCN, though they are nowhere near as plentiful as they once were. One of the reasons for this is that humans keep destroying the wetlands that these birds rely on for both breeding and their winter feeding grounds. The aquatic vegetation that these ducks need to eat no longer grows in many of the areas they once did due to pollution, and many other wetlands are simply drained to make room for human development.

[hmtaxidermy]

Couple of guys finished from the last group!

[echoeyee]

there are so many more kinds of ducks in this world than you could ever possibly know. go to #thelake and find one william kinds of ducks today !!!!!