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Canvasback
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| Canvasback, male ©
Harold
Lindstrom Courtesy of eNature |
Species
description provided by eNature
Description
19-24" (48-61 cm). Male has a whitish body, black chest, and
reddish head with low forehead. Long bill gives head a distinctive
sloping profile. Female grayish, with sandy-brown head. At a distance
male Canvasbacks can be distinguished from similar Redheads by their
white bodies, the male Redhead's body being largely gray.
Voice
Males grunt or croak; females quack.
Habitat
Nests on marshes; winters on lakes, bays, and estuaries.
Nesting
7-10 greenish eggs in a floating mass of reeds and grass anchored
to stems of marsh plants.
Range
Breeds from Alaska south and east to Nebraska and Minnesota. Winters
in coastal and interior West from British Columbia south and in
East from Massachusetts south to Gulf Coast and in Mississippi Valley.
Discussion
Inhabitants of large prairie marshes during the summer, these wary
birds usually spend the winter on large lakes, bays, and estuaries.
A major item in their diet is wild celery, which gives their flesh
a rich taste; they are generally regarded as the best-tasting of
North American waterfowl. In recent years their numbers have declined
drastically, chiefly because of the draining of the large marshes
they require to breed. Where they are still relatively numerous,
their long, V-shaped flocks are a striking sight as they move from
one feeding ground to another.
