Bird Description

Fairly common duck but often hard to see. Lives in swampy woodland or any combination of water and trees. Tends to flush easily. Most often seen in flight (particularly at dawn and dusk) or heard giving squealy calls. Nests in cavities or nest boxes. Often perches on branches. Usually in small groups out of breeding season, but rarely with other species. Often kept in collections. ID: Fairly small duck with males having bushy crest creating bulbous back of head. Head patterns always distinctive. Long-tailed, a particularly useful feature in flight and makes bird identifiable in silhouette. Shape and patterns of color diagnostic. The male is stunning with an incredible head pattern! Eclipse male as female but retains distinctive eye and bill colors and ghost of head pattern. Its brighter colors are molted in through fall when it looks similar to imm male. Adult female neatly patterned brown and white with distinctive white tear around and behind eye. Juv shows dull neat pattern of adult female.