Aythya Americana) Brett A

Redhead (Aythya americana) Brett A. Basler

Metzger Marsh, Ottawa Co., OH. 3/26/2009 © Darlene Friedman (Click to view a comparison of Atlas I to II) One of the most aptly named waterfowl, the Lake St. Clair, and one in Monroe County on the western edge of Lake Erie. There were three plumage of the male Redhead consists of a dark confirmed instances in the UP, one in Chippewa red or burgundy colored head. Females lack County along St. Mary's River, another near the this, having a pale brown or tan head. Native Wisconsin border in Gogebic County, and one only to North America, the Redhead breeds at the Seney NWR in Schoolcraft County primarily west of the Mississippi River in the (Reeves 1991). western United States and Canada. Disjunct breeding populations also occur east of the Though listed as confirmed at the Seney NWR Mississippi River in the lower and upper in the first atlas, MBBA II does not have any peninsulas of Michigan, southeast Wisconsin, notation of the presence of Redheads, confirmed southwest Ontario, western New York and or otherwise, at the refuge. However the most northern Indiana. (Woodin and Michot 2002) recent Wisconsin Breeding Bird Atlas describes

Seney NWR as the only site east of the Distribution Mississippi River that rivals the number of While first recorded as breeding in Michigan breeding Redheads at Wisconsin's Horicon around 1935 in the marshes of Lake St. Clair NWR, confirming their continued presence (Pirnie 1935), Redheads were noted along (Volkert 2006). southern Ontario's shore of Lake St. Clair as early as 1877 (Zimmerman and Van Tyne MBBA II indicates that the status of Redheads 1959). Michigan's marshes most likely held the has shown some decline since MBBA I. The birds during this time as well. By the mid 1950s, percentages of blocks and townships where Redheads were also noted breeding along breeding birds were found have decreased in Saginaw Bay (Zimmerman and Van Tyne both the NLP and UP. Total instances by block 1959). went from nine to two and from ten to one,

respectively. The SLP showed an increase of In MBBA I, the Redhead was listed as a regular one. but uncommon nesting bird. They were confirmed in six blocks in the LP with one each in Bay, Midland and Tuscola Counties near Saginaw Bay, two in St. Clair County along

Breeding Biology Conservation Needs Redhead ducks begin forming pair bonds in late Continent-wide, the Redhead is thought to be winter as they begin to return northward in stable or increasing in numbers, though there March (Weller 1965). Nesting generally begins has been little research on the effect of habitat in early to mid-May and may continue into late management on their populations. Wetland July (Bellrose 1980). The nesting habitat is conservation is the most important management usually deeper marshes with tall emergent practice for waterfowl and this is especially true vegetation. The female alone builds the nest, for Redheads as they do not nest in upland or usually overwater. However the Redhead prairie areas. If the amount of suitable quality utilizes facultative brood parasitism to a greater wetlands available to Redheads does not extent than other North American waterfowl; increase or decrease dramatically, it is likely females sometimes may not produce their own that the population will remain stable in clutch (Weller 1959). Facultative brood Michigan. parasitism is the act of a female bird laying some or all of her brood in the nests of other birds. These offspring are then raised by the host nest female instead of the mother. Broods Literature Cited in Michigan usually hatch by early to mid-July. The average clutch size is seven to eight eggs if Bellrose, F.C. 1980. Ducks, Geese and Swans of the nest is not parasitized. Inter- and North America. Stackpole Books, intraspecific nest parasitism makes it very Harrisburg PA. difficult to calculate how many eggs a typical Pirnie, M. D. 1935. Michigan Waterfowl Redhead female lays in a season (Weller 1959). Management. Department of Conservation. As with most of the family Anatidae, young Lansing MI. usually leave the nest within a day of hatching. Reeves, D. 1991. Redhead (Aythya americana). In Brewer, R, G. A. McPeek, and R. J. Abundance and Population Trends Adams Jr. (eds.). 1991. The Atlas of the (Click to view trends from the BBS) Breeding Birds of Michigan. Michigan State The current continental Redhead population is at University Press. East Lansing, MI. or near an all time high of approximately 1 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). 2009. million birds. This is well above the goal set by Waterfowl population status, 2009. U.S. the North American Waterfowl Plan of 650,000 Dept. of the Interior, Washington D.C., (USFWS 2009). Most of this increase is due to USA. conservation efforts west of the Mississippi Weller, M.W. 1959. Parasitic egg laying in the River where the vast majority of Redheads nest. Redhead (Aythya americana) and other North American Anantiade. Ecological The population of Redheads in Michigan is Monographs 29: 333-365. most likely stable or has slightly declined since Weller, M.W. 1965. Chronology of pair the first atlas. Waterfowl populations can show formation in some Nearctic Aythya a great amount of fluctuation due to their (Anatidae). Auk 82: 227-235. migratory nature and the effect of weather on Volkert, W. 2006. Redhead (Aythya americana). their breeding grounds. The disjunct nature of In Cutright, N.J., B.R. Harriman, and R.W. Michigan’s Redhead population would add even Howe. 2006. Atlas of the Breeding Birds of more variance to these fluctuations. Wisconsin. Wisconsin Society for Ornithology. Waukesha, WI.

Woodin, M. C., and T. C. Michot. 2002. Suggested Citation Redhead (Aythya americana) In The Birds of North America, No. 695. The Birds of North Basler, B.A. 2011. Redhead (Aythya America, Inc., Philadelphia, PA. americana). In Chartier, A.T., J.J. Baldy, Zimmerman, D. A., and J. Van Tyne. 1959. A and J.M. Brenneman (eds.). 2010-2011. The Distributional Checklist of the Birds of Second Michigan Breeding Bird Atlas. Michigan. Occasional Papers of the Kalamazoo Nature Center. Kalamazoo, MI. University of Michigan Museum of Accessed online at: .