Ruddy Duck

Oxyura jamaicensis

Pato Chorizo,
Malvasφa Rojiza

Audio (M. Oberle)

IDENTIFICATION: A small duck with a rufous brown body, white cheek patches, and a blue bill. The female is duller brown with one dark, horizontal line below the eye. Often holds its short tail pointed upwards, which leads to a common name in North America of "Stifftail." It is similar in size to the rarer Masked Duck, but the male Ruddy has a white face patch. The female Ruddy Duck has one, rather than two prominent bars below the eye. Length: 35-43 cm.; weight: 310-795 g.

VOICE: In courtship displays, the male sings a bubbly series of accelerating, quacking notes. Audio (M. Oberle).

HABITAT: Ponds, lagoons, marshes and lakes with emergent vegetation.

HABITS: Travels in small flocks and feeds on aquatic insects, snails, molluscs, worms, and other invertebrates. The Ruddy Duck dives as well as dabbles near the waterÆs surface, and strains food from mud at the bottom of the pond. When danger approaches, the Ruddy Duck dives and often emerges a surprising distance away from its starting point. The female builds a nest hidden in marsh vegetation, and lays 6-8 white eggs. Sometimes the female lays her eggs in the nest of another Ruddy Duck or the nest of another species. The male abandons the female as incubation begins. The incubation period lasts 23-26 days. The chicks leave the nest soon after hatching and follow the female to feeding areas. They fledge about 42-48 days after hatching. Outside the breeding season, this species forms large flocks.

STATUS AND CONSERVATION: An uncommon and threatened nesting species in Puerto Rico, although numbers increase with winter migrants. Population levels have declined in many parts of its range due to hunting and drainage of wetlands.

RANGE: Breeds in western Canada, the USA, the Caribbean, and in western South America. In winter, North American breeders migrate to the southern USA, Mexico and the Caribbean. Regular places to find this species are at the Ca±o Tiburones and Humacao nature reserves, and at Serrallés Lakes (PR 512, Km 0.3) near Juana Díaz.

TAXONOMY: ANSERIFORMES; ANATIDAE; Anatinae

References

Bent, A.C. 1923. Life histories of North American wild fowl, part 2. Smithsonian Instit. U.S. National Museum Bull. 126. (Reprinted by Dover Press, NY, 1962).

Brua, R. B. 2001. Ruddy Duck (Oxyura jamaicensis). In The Birds of North America, No. 696 (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.). The Birds of North America, Inc., Philadelphia, PA.

del Hoyo, J., A. Elliott, and J. Sargatal, eds. 1992. Handbook of Birds of the World, Vol. 1. Ostrich to ducks. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona.

Ehrlich, P.R., D.S. Dobkin, and D. Wheye. 1988. The birderÆs handbook: a field guide to the natural history of North American birds. Simon and Schuster/Fireside, NY.

Madge, S. and H. Burn. 1988. Wildfowl: an identification guide to the ducks, geese, and swans of the world. C. Helm, London.

Ortiz Rosas, P. 1981. Guía de cazador: aves de caza y especies protegidas. Depto. de Recursos Naturales, San Juan, PR.

Raffaele, H.A. 1989. A guide to the birds of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. Princeton.

Raffaele, H.A. 1989. Una guía a las aves de Puerto Rico y las Islas Vírgenes. Publishing Resources, Inc., Santurce, PR.

Raffaele, H.A., J.W. Wiley, O.H. Garrido, A.R. Keith, and J.I. Raffaele. 1998. Guide to the birds of the West Indies. Princeton.

Ruddy Duck, Spanish text

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