Select this link to see photos or a slideshow of the Ruddy Duck
The male Ruddy Duck is a small chubby white cheek with dark cap and a gray color in the winter coat. The summer coat is a rusty red and the bill is dull blue. The female Rusty Duck is similar to the winter, male but with the cheek crossed with a dark line. They often cock the tail vertically and cannot walk on the land. It has a range from southern Canada to northern South America, and occasionally seen around the Great Lakes and eastern US. It has a habitat at fresh marshes, ponds, lakes, and in winter salt bays. It has a diet of mostly seeds, roots, and insects. It forages by diving and swimming underwater, propelled by its feet, and using the bill to strain food items from the mud.