Ruddy Duck (Oxyura jamaicensis), Lake Cochise, Cochise County

This Ruddy Duck was found and photographed by Chad Wilhite on 04 April 2018

Apparent partial melanistic Ruddy Duck; this plumage is rarely documented.

Size and shape of the head and bill as well as the body and face pattern rule out the superficially Bufflehead and Masked Duck. Several species of Oxyura show all dark heads and this may be an ancestral trait. 

04 April 2018, photo by Chad Wilhite

All photos are copyrighted© by photographer