Regular visitors to Missouri, diving ducks add to wetland waterfowl diversity
The duck test theorizes that if it looks like a duck, swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck, then it’s probably a duck.
But what if that duck suddenly disappears below the water’s surface?
Then it’s probably a diving duck.
Diving ducks, also called sea ducks, are typically found in deep, open waters, such as large rivers and lakes, coastal bays, and inlets. They float low on the waters they frequent, sitting with their tail feathers on or in the water.
As their name suggests, they dive for their food. The weight of their heavy bodies helps them stay below the water’s surface as they forage for plants, clams, insects, and other waterlogged delicacies. The position of their webbed feet — further back on their bodies — makes them more streamlined when they dive. Their powerful feet propel them through the water as they hunt for another favorite food item — fish.
Divers have smaller wings, so they need room to take off and land. They slide onto a lake or river with a long splashing glide. To take flight, divers must run and flap their wings to gain enough speed to lift off.
Missouri hosts a number of diving ducks in the spring and again in the fall, between August and December, as they make their way south along the Mississippi flyway. Some are here for just a short time — to grab a bite and be on their way. Others stay throughout the winter. Whether they stay or go, you can find these in Missouri’s wetlands and on other bodies of water across the state.
To learn more about Missouri’s wonderful waterfowl, visit our online Field Guide at mdc.mo.gov/field-guide.
Canvasback
Aythya valisineria
Length: Male 21 inches, female 20 inches
Weight: Male 2.7 pounds, female 2.5 pounds
Status: Common migrant
Peak viewing: Spring and fall migration
Food: Although their diet is primarily aquatic vegetation, canvasbacks are considered omnivorous. They eat significant amounts of insects and mollusks.
The male canvasback has a chestnut head and a sloping, blackish bill, black chest, and a white body. The female is a more muted light brown with a grayish back and sides. The female’s voice is a low growl, while males hoot and squawk.
Redhead
Aythya americana
Length: Male 20 inches, female 19 inches
Weight: Male 2.4 pounds, female 2.1 pounds
Status: Uncommon migrant
Peak viewing: Spring and fall migration
Food: Redheads dive to feed on seeds, rhizomes, tubers of pondweeds, wild celery, water lilies, grasses, and wild rice. They also feed on mollusks, aquatic insects, and small fish.
The adult male redhead has a chestnut-red head, black breast and rear end, and gray body and wing stripes. The bill is blue with a black tip. The female is brown with a darker back, a black-tipped blue bill, a gray wing stripe, and a buffy eye ring and face. The female voice is a soft greb, while the male’s is a loud, nasal waoh.
Hooded Merganser
Lophodytes cucullatus
Length: Male 18.1 inches, female 17 inches
Weight: Male 1.6 pounds, female 1.2 pounds
Status: Uncommon transient; rare summer and winter resident
Peak viewing: Spring and fall migration
Food: Hooded mergansers dive in fresh water to feed on small fish, crayfish and other crustaceans, and aquatic insects.
The adult male hooded merganser has a black head, neck, and back. The black-margined white crest is very distinct. The female is brown with a rust-colored crest. Their head crests may be raised to a nearly circular shape or lowered so that it trails behind their heads. The merganser’s bill is slim and serrated, with a hooked tip. For the male, the bill is dark, but the female’s is bicolored. The male gives a low, froglike sound, while females give a hoarse gak.
Common Goldeneye
Bucephala clangula
Length: Male 19 inches, female 17 inches
Weight: Male 2.3 pounds, female 1.7 pounds
Status: Common migrant; winter resident
Peak viewing: Mid-November through the end of April
Food: Common goldeneyes typically forage on the bottom of waterways for aquatic invertebrates, crayfish, fish, and plants.
Common goldeneyes have compact bodies with large heads, relatively small, narrow bills, and short tails. The male has a dark head and back, with white sides and breast. There is a white oval spot on each cheek, between the bill and bright yellow eyes. The female has a dark bill with yellow near the tip. Her head is brown, and her body is gray with a white collar. The female’s eyes are a more subdued pale yellow or white. Males whistle and rattle, while females make a low, grating au, au.
Lesser Scaup
Aythya affinis
Length: Male 17 inches, female 16.5 inches
Weight: Male 1.8 pounds, female 1.6 pounds
Status: Common migrant
Peak viewing: Spring and fall migration
Food: Lesser scaup dive to feed on seeds of pondweeds, wigeon grass, wild rice, sedges, and bulrushes. They also feed on crustaceans, mollusks, aquatic insects, and small fish.
The adult male’s head is angular or peaked and has a purple sheen. The male lesser scaup also has a smaller bill with a small nail at the tip. The female is brown, with white around the base of the bill. Scaups are mostly silent. The female makes a hoarse can-can-can or a barking garf, garf, garf that is higher and softer than the female greater scaup’s. The male has a high-pitched whistle.
Bufflehead
Bucephala albeola
Length: Male 15 inches, female 13 inches
Weight: Male 1.1 pounds, female 0.7 pounds
Status: Uncommon migrant; rare winter resident
Peak viewing: March through mid-April and November
Food: Buffleheads primarily feed on a variety of invertebrates, including insects, mollusks, and crustaceans. They also eat plant matter, such as pondweeds and seeds.
Buffleheads are small, compact ducks with large, rounded heads. The male has a black back and a puffy black head with a white patch behind the eyes. The female is brown with a white belly. Buffleheads are usually silent.
Ring-Necked Duck
Aythya collaris
Length: Male 17 inches, female 16.6 inches
Weight: Male 1.6 pounds, female 1.5 pounds
Status: Common migrant; winter resident in southern Missouri
Peak viewing: Spring and fall migration
Food: Ring-necked ducks prefer shallow water, feeding on a variety of aquatic plants, including pondweeds, water milfoil, hydrilla, sedges, grasses, and wild rice. They also eat aquatic insects, snails, and clams.
Ring-necked ducks get their name from a faint brownish ring around the base of their necks. The adult male is dark, with well-defined gray sides and a white stripe between the sides and the breast. His bill is gray with a white ring and a black tip. The female is dark brown with light brown sides and white eye rings. The female’s voice is a low-pitched kerrp, while the male’s is a thin, low-pitched, nasal whistle.
Common Merganser
Mergus merganser
Length: Male 25.5 inches, female 22.9 inches
Weight: Male 3.64 pounds, female 2.73 pounds
Status: Common transient; winter resident; accidental summer visitor
Peak viewing: Spring and fall migration, winter
Food: Common mergansers eat mainly fish, amphibians, crustaceans, mollusks, and other invertebrates. They hunt fish, propelled by their powerful webbed feet, and snag their prey, using their serrated bill.
Common mergansers have a long, slender, serrated, red or orange bill with a wide base. The male has a green head, a mostly white body, and a black and gray back. The female merganser has a gray body with a rusty head, sharply defined against her white neck. Their voice is a hoarse croaking car-r-r-r or rapid cackling notes.
Greater Scaup
Aythya marila
Length: Male 18.6 inches, female 17 inches
Weight: Male 2.32 pounds, female 2.15 pounds
Status: Rare transient and winter resident; accidental summer visitor
Peak viewing: Spring and fall migration
Food: Scaup — pronounced skopp — may be related to the word scalp, akin to terms in northern European languages that mean “shell” or “shellfish bed.” In some regions, scaups feed on clams, oysters, and mussels. In freshwater, greater scaups feed on snails, crayfish, insects, and aquatic vegetation.
The adult male’s head is rounded and has a green sheen. The bill is bluish with a hard-to-see broad black nail at the tip. The female is brown, with white around the base of the bill. Scaups are mostly silent. The female makes a hoarse can-can-can.
Ruddy Duck
Oxyura jamaicensis
Length: Male 15.4 inches, female 15 inches
Weight: Male 1.20 pounds, female 1.19 pounds
Status: Common migrant; rare summer visitor
Peak viewing: Mid-February to mid-May; late October to mid-December
Food: Ruddy ducks feed on both plants and invertebrates. During migration, they feed mainly on plants. As with other birds, during breeding season, they need more protein, so they feed on invertebrates, including shellfish, crustaceans, and aquatic insects.
Ruddy ducks are small with stiff tail feathers that are usually cocked upward. The male ruddy duck is dark cinnamon with a black head, white patches on its cheeks, and a blue bill. The female is brownish with a dark line through her cheeks. Both become duller in the winter. They are usually silent except during courtship when they are heard rapidly sputtering chuck-chuck-chuck-chuck, chuck, churrrr.
Also In This Issue
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The attack, when it comes, is swift, decisive, and lethal
And More...
This Issue's Staff
Editor - Angie Daly Morfeld
Associate Editor - Larry Archer
Photography Editor – Ben Nickelson
Staff Writer - Kristie Hilgedick
Staff Writer - Joe Jerek
Staff Writer – Dianne Van Dien
Designer - Marci Porter
Photographer - Noppadol Paothong
Photographer - David Stonner
Circulation – Marcia Hale