The pictures that I showed here are the female/immature male ruddy duck. This is All About Birds’ descriptions: “Ruddy Ducks are compact, thick-necked waterfowl with seemingly oversized tails that they habitually hold upright.”
我的照片裏的鴨是雌性/不成熟的雄性棕硬尾鴨。 《關於鳥類的一切》這樣描述：“棕硬尾鴨是袖珍的，頸粗的水禽，尾巴看似過大而且習慣於直立。” 。
Image Gallery-Click to enlarge 圖片庫-點擊放大
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Notes 筆記
- The ruddy duck is one of the stiff-tailed ducks.
- The genus name is derived from Ancient Greek oxus, “sharp”, and oura, “tail”, and jamaicensis is “from Jamaica”.
- These are small, compact ducks with stout, scoop-shaped bills, and long, stiff tails they often hold cocked upward. Male ruddy ducks have blackish caps that contrast with bright white cheeks. In summer, they have rich chestnut bodies with bright blue bills. In winter, they are dull gray-brown above and paler below with dull gray bills. Females and first-year males are brownish, somewhat like winter males.
- Their breeding habitat is marshy lakes and ponds, primarily in the Prairie Potholes region. They nest in dense marsh vegetation near water. The female builds the nest out of grass, locating it in tall vegetation to hide it from predators. A typical brood contains 5 to 15 ducklings.
- They are migratory and winter in coastal bays and unfrozen lakes and ponds.
- These birds dive and swim underwater. They mainly eat seeds and roots of aquatic plants, aquatic insects and crustaceans. They feed most actively at night, so you’ll often see Ruddy Ducks sleeping during the day, head tucked under a wing and tail cocked up.
- 棕硬尾鴨是一種硬尾鴨。
- 屬名來自古希臘的“ oxus”（鋒利的）和“ oura”尾”，而jamaicensis的名稱則是”來自牙買加”。
- 這些小的、袖珍的鴨子，有厚實戽斗形狀的喙，以及長而僵硬的尾巴，它們通常將尾巴向上翹起。雄性棕硬尾鴨的冠呈黑色，與白色的臉頰形成對比。夏季時它們有深栗子色的身體及亮藍色的喙。在冬季時它們的身體是暗灰褐色上方較下方顏色深些，並有暗灰色喙。雌性和一歲大的雄性鴨是棕褐色，有點像冬季的雄鴨。
- 它們的繁殖棲息地是沼澤的湖泊和池塘，主要位於“草原坑洼”地區。它們築巢在水附近的茂密沼澤植被中。雌鴨用草築巢，將其隱藏在高大的植被中，以躲避掠食者。一個典型的巢有5到15隻小鴨。
- 棕硬尾鴨是候鳥，會遷徙到海灣及沒有結冰的湖中過冬。
- 它們能夠潛入水中。它們主要吃水生植物的種子及根、水生昆蟲及甲殼類。它們喜歡在晚上進食，因此白天經常會看到棕硬尾鴨在睡覺，頭藏在翅膀下，尾巴翹起。
References 參考資料
- Wikipedia: Ruddy duck
- All about birds: Ruddy Duck
- 維基百科: 棕硬尾鴨
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