Description Also known as the "diving duck" the Redhead grows to 17-21 inches and weighs up to 3.2 ounds. The male has a bright red head with yellow eyes and a gray back with a black chest and rear end, and a blue bill with a black tip. The female is colored with more subtle grays and browns.

Lifecycle The males attract the females by throwing back their heads and call to them. The males make a deep "meow" or you also might hear them make a slow "purr." The females makes a "squack" or a " quack."When the female builds her nest it is a floating basket shaped made from various plant materials and will lay and incubate 9-13 pale olive eggs. However the Redhead is also known to place a few of her egg (and sometimes all of them) in other birds' nest. The eggs are incubated for 24-28 days and chicks hatch with the ability to move about. They fledge at about 56 to 73 days of age.

Habitat The redhead ducks are usually found in shallow freshwater lakes and ponds and marshlands. During the winter they migrate south and are visitors to the Hawaiian Islands.

Diet Dabbling and making shallow foraging dives they feed mainly on aquatic vegetation and invertebrates and favor snails, crustaceans and insects.