Canvasback

Aythya valisineria

Sloping forehead, ruby-red eyes, the aristocrat of diving ducks. Once the most prized bird on American hunting tables.

Population: ~690,000 mature individuals (2018 estimate; increasing short-term trend, though long-term trend assessed as roughly stable)
Habitat: Breeds on freshwater prairie-pothole lakes, ponds, and marshes with dense emergent vegetation (cattails, bulrushes; often aspen parkland/subarctic river deltas); winters on coastal bays, estuaries, brackish lagoons, and large lakes/rivers
Fun fact: The canvasback's scientific name valisineria refers to wild celery (Vallisneria americana), its favored winter food, and it is North America's largest diving duck; its English common name comes from early European settlers describing its back as canvas-colored.
Range: Breeds across western/central Canada and the northern U.S. (prairie pothole region through Saskatchewan river deltas to Alaska); winters across the U.S. from the Pacific coast and Great Lakes to the mid-Atlantic (Chesapeake Bay), Gulf Coast/Lower Mississippi Alluvial Valley, and into Mexico; BirdLife lists extent of occurrence ~10.5M km² (breeding) / ~12.4M km² (non-breeding), with vagrant records in the Caribbean, Pacific, Japan, and South Korea
Diet: Omnivorous diving duck; mainly aquatic vegetation (wild celery/Vallisneria tubers, sago pondweed, seeds, buds, roots) plus mollusks (snails, clams — including Baltic clams where vegetation has declined) and aquatic insect larvae (caddisfly, dragonfly, mayfly nymphs) especially in the breeding season
Size: 0.52 m
Wingspan: 0.84 m
Lifespan: 22 years

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