Subject: Ruddy duck, Oxyura jamaicensis

Location: Alamosa National Wildlife Refuge, Colorado

Stock Number: 04-1912 (above) and 04-1915 (below)

Comments: The attractive coloration of the male ruddy duck is for breeding season only. Later in the year his blue bill will turn back to black, and his handsome black and ruddy coloration will change to a mundane brown.

I knew nothing about Ruddy duck courtship rituals, but stumbled into some at Colorado's Alamosa National Wildlife Refuge. The two males seemed to be having a contest to see whose tail could be taller, stiffer, and wider. They also were doing a bizarre head bobbing routine. In the photo above, the bird in the foreground is at the lower end of his head bobbing cycle, while the upper duck is near the top of his.

In the lower photo this drake has his neck streched as a part of the head bobbing behavior. Note, too, the vertical tail, which is widely spread.