Ruddy Duck (Oxyura jamaicensis), Tucson, Pima County

This Ruddy Duck was photographed by Dan Weisz on 28 April 2015

Apparent melanistic Ruddy Duck; this plumage is rarely documented with at least one report with all dark upperparts.

Size and shape of the head and bill as well as the body and face pattern rule out the superficially Masked Duck. Several species of Oxyura show all dark heads and this may be an ancestral trait. This bird still has some ruddy feathers present on the body, but the bill is duller than the adjacent normal male.

28 April 2015, photo by Dan Weisz

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