Ring-necked Duck, female
Aythya collaris
Ring-necked Duck · San Diego · 6 March 2026
A female Ring-necked Duck in a relaxed, low pose on the water. The peaked head shape carries even at rest and is often the fastest way to pick this species out of a mixed raft of diving ducks before any plumage detail is visible; the white ring near the tip of the bill and the pale eye-ring are the rest. The "ring-necked" of the name is a faint chestnut collar on the male that is almost never visible in the field - the bill ring would have been the better name.
Birds, insects, plants and other wildlife, mostly from Brooklyn, with some from further afield.
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