RING-NECKED DUCK

(species Aythya collaris), diving duck (family Anatidae), a popular game bird that is considered excellent table fare. The ring-necked duck is about 43 cm (17 inches) long. The male has a purplish black, iridescent head, a black back, and gray sides with a vertical wedge-shaped white patch in front of the wing. The female is brown with a white eye ring. Both sexes have an inconspicuous brown neck ring, but the two white rings on the bill are distinct. It breeds mainly in the prairie provinces of Canada and prefers to winter on freshwater. The ring-necked duck is a plant eater, but it feeds at shallower depths than those frequented by other diving ducks and will return to favourite feeding grounds even when hunted there. The nest, built of flattened reeds, often floats on vegetation in shallow water.