#oxyura

[herpsandbirds]

Ruddy Duck (Oxyura jamaicensis), male, family Anatidae, order Anseriformes, northern United States

photograph via: Cornell Lab of Ornithology

[snototter]

A ruddy duck (Oxyura jamaicensis), housed at the San Diego Zoo, USA

by the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance

[best-bird-tournament]

Tribe Oxyurini* ducks

Which is the best bird?

Black-headed duck

Masked duck

Blue-billed duck

Ruddy duck

Andean duck

White-headed duck

Maccoa duck

Lake duck

Voting ended onSep 21, 2025

*this is a very controversial tribe of ducks and I don't want to talk about it

[saritawolf]

Ruddy Duck (Oxyura jamaicensis) - (c) SaritaWolf - please do not repost

[all-bird-creechur]

Ruddy Duck Oxyura jamaicensis

Stiff-tailed ducks occupy heavily vegetated habitats in North and South America. As a result of escapes from wildfowl collections in the late 1950s, they became established in Great Britain, from where they spread into Europe. Ruddy ducks mainly feed on a large amount of plant matter like seeds and roots as well as aquatic insects and crustaceans.

img source

[vogelpsittacines]

Ruddy Duck

Also nicknamed "butterball" for its awkward short and stout stature.

When breeding season starts, a hormonal change in males causes microscopic changes in the outermost layer of their bill, which affect which wavelengths of visible light are absorbed and reflected back at our eyes — blue.

Photographer: Paul Higgins

[drhoz]

#3366 - Oxyura australis - Blue-billed Duck

In Tomato Lake, a suburban wetland that was once extremely degraded, and Salvinia-infested, until it was restored by volunteers from the WA Naturalists Club in the 1970s.

A small, wary Australian stiff-tailed duck, that avoids threats by diving underwater. They also feed underwater, sifting the mud with their beaks, and when mating the female is completely submerged. The male's courtship display prior to these watersports involves rolling the cheek on the back, dab-preening, and having an apparent epileptic fit on the surface of the pond.

In the breeding season, as here, the male has deep chestnut plumage and a bright blue beak, reverting to a dark grey with slate-blue beak afterwards. The female retains black plumage with brown tips all year round.

Endemic to Australia's temperate regions, in natural inland wetlands and artificial wetlands, such as sewage ponds, in large numbers. Various authorities consider it either of Least Conservation Concern, or Near Threatened thanks to habitat loss and degradation.

Tomato Lake, Belmont, Perth.

[comixqueen]

Repostober 27, duck-raptor!