Description: This is a dabbling duck. Males have glossy green heads, a white neck ring and a yellowish bill, although in late summer they molt into drab, eclipse plumage resembling the females'. Females are mottled brown with orange patches on the bill. Both sexes have a blue speculum and orange feet.

Range: Northern parts of the Northern Hemisphere. They overwinter in Mexico, northern Africa and India.

Habitat: Found in marshes, wooded swamps and city parks. Also found in lakes, ponds and rivers.

General: These ducks feed by upending to reach aquatic plants, seeds, grass, insects and snails.

Bovey, Robin, Campbell, Wayne, and Gates, Brian. 1989. Birds of Victoria and Vicinity. Lone Pine Publishing. Edmonton, Alberta.

Peterson, Roger Tory. 1990. Peterson Field Guides: Western Birds. Houghton Mifflin Company. New York, New York.

Udvardy, Miklos D. F. 1994. National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Birds: Western Region. Chanticlear Press, Inc. New York, New York.

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