Today’s post comes with some sadness as a member of the extended Intrigued family was laid to rest this afternoon. From wonderful stories learned and the good people that surrounds her, clearly she had a far reaching impact and will be truly missed by all. With deepest sympathies to the family, relatives and friends.
As you can tell from the post output as of late, I am still trying to recover from last weekend’s run. Getting antsy as sitting around (technically in this case, laying around) isn’t my thing and Linda knows all too well that a non-running Bri starts to get the crazies – NOBODY WANTS THAT! For now, trying to get through while doing my best to get ahead of the monthly quota for a change. Honestly, a bit of a win-win for all of us ha. Last post I brought you the Redhead Duck, If you recall, I mentioned with one possible exception, that species is pretty distinguishable in the field. At the time I was thinking the Canvasback Duck could cause some confusion. B. across the pond (link here), pointed out their Pochards are similarly colored and after some research on this UK Duck, I can absolutely confirm, not only similar, but basically doppelgangers. Fortunately for us, the two species do not overlap that much. For those Stateside, thought I would go ahead and cover the one we might have difficulties with.
Hit the jump to see a few more shots of the Canvasback and a bit of a discussion on the similarities and differences between them and Redheads.
Let’s start with the similarities. Well, they are both Ducks (did I mention I was college educated hehehe). Just setting expectations, don’t want you wasting your time looking in the trees or out in the middle of prairies. As you can tell, they chose a similar color palette consisting of rich cinnamon/reds, blacks on the chest and rear with shades of gray/white making up the real estate in between. They also have very bright and distinguishable eyes fit for a good scare this Halloween season.
There are some subtle differences in that set that can help guide you one way or another precluding an assessment of the shape – which we will cover next. The Redheads tend to have a “brighter” richness to their head coloring that is more consistent across the head. Canvasbacks carry the darker tone of their bill up between their eyes to the top of their heads which almost gives their neck a bookend effect with the dark tones on the front of their breast.
That darker tone also highlights the red eye hue verses the orange-yellow of the Redhead. The bill on the Redhead is predominantly slate grey where the Canvas has an all black bill. Forgot to mention, I am focusing on the drakes for this discussion – the females are much easier to distinguish even though they are both adorned in the common female browns. To round out the color discussion, the Canvas has a lighter coloring and less “ticking” in their back feathering. The bill and back differences can get a bit lost depending on the distance you are away from the subject and whether the light is distorting those features.
Lucky for us, there is a pretty easy way to tell them apart in the field and that involves assessing the shape of the profile. I suspect you have already been screaming at your monitor about how different their heads look. If I just jumped right to the dessert you wouldn’t appreciate the journey and we all know you can’t “have any pudding if you don’t eat your meat”. Just a little background on the heavy reference of that lyric here at Intrigued – The Wall was the first album I ever bought with my hard earned pennies and I listened to it every single day through high school and into college assuredly making me the well adjusted human being I am today…or not ha.
So we are at dessert and the chef has brought us a fine piece of Black Forest pie to complete our full-“course” Duck dinner. It is this finishing touch that will forever stick in your mind while out in the field trying to distinguish the Canvasback from the Redhead. The Canvas has a head and bill profile similar to this piece of delicious pie – wedge shaped, dark like the chocolate body with a red eye like the cherry on top. If you need to, you can accuse the chef of burning the crust if you want to complete the cinnamon coloring (don’t tell the chef though, he has some very sharp knives).
The Redhead and the Canvasback both cover large swathes across the US and down into Central America so there are likely chances you will see them hanging out in the same waters. In fact, both this specimen and the Redhead were found trolling the pond Sunset Park in Las Vegas. Both like to head to the northwest to breed, but the Canvas goes deeper into Canada/Alaska regions. To be honest, I do not completely understand the Canvas migration regions on Cornell. They have a breeding range in the upper parts of Montana and North Dakota but fly all the way to Idaho or the Great Lakes to make it down to Colorado/Oklahoma – it’s as if there’s a “Wall” they have to get around “is there anybody out there?”
“Did this idiot just refer to me as a piece of Black Forest Pie!?!”
Apparently offended this specimen, going to leave it there. Hope you enjoyed a look at the Canvasback and more importantly, have some tools to help you identify it in the field. Take care everyone, for some reason I am really hungry!
Wildlife Intrigued 
My deepest condolences Brian, to you and your family.
This duck looks big and has interesting colors. This thick necked male is so handsome. Great photos of this amazing duck!
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Thank you Kaya. Jan’s mom will certainly be missed.
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Thanks Kaya, this loss was in Brad’s family and will definitely extend your condolences. The Canvasback is definitely quite handsome and with that unique profile really stands out on the water. Appreciate you dropping in and take care.
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This guy reminds me of my dad’s frequent comment, Well, bless his pointy little head! Thanks for this comparison of the Canvas and Redhead. It’s amazing how the same color scheme can evolve on two different birds. Comparing their maps, it is interesting how much overlap there is in their breeding and non-breeding ranges, and yet there is NO overlap between their “all year” ranges. It’s a mystery!
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I like that analogy – better than my food association ha. It is an absolute mystery on the all year ranges (astute observation, I had to go back and look at that again). To be honest, I am a bit skeptical on a lot of Cornell’s region maps – wish they would give a year for those as I don’t think they are keeping up with changing populations – one of the many problems I have with Cornell (so many opportunities for improvement there). It would be interesting to see the genealogy of these two Ducks to see if they ever cross as those colors are awfully close. Thanks for coming by and congrats on your two new Hawks.
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All the Cornell bird listings show the “cartoon” range map that I normally re-post the first time I see a new bird. But many (most?) also have the eBird “purple squares” map, which I think is the most up-to-date they can get (though it doesn’t control for the number of observers – thousands more watchers visit the highly popular spots, giving them elevated counts, and therefore elevated purple-ness, I think. And, you are right, the purple squares map is almost always more dispersed and widespread than the cartoon.
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Definitely agree, the eBird report maps are far more accurate as they are real-time (I think) vs whenever Cornell decides to make an update which as far as I can tell is about never. I just wish you could then hit a filter that would refine the gradation to maybe 1 or two 2 levels (none, a few and a lot) so I can get a better visual – some of those maps are so busy I can’t tell which way is up.
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It’s like a Neapolitan Black Forest Pie. Beautiful duck. Condolences for the the extended family.
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Jan and her Dad say Thank You Tim. The healing part starts now.
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Even tastier!! Now if I could just get Linda to bake me one of those we would be in business. My sly attempts to put this idea in her head failed miserably. Will pass the condolences on to Brad’s family.
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Sad state of being when there’s no baking for Brian.
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Nice photos Brian. Those red eyes are a bit creepy though.
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I agree, but I felt they were fitting for the upcoming holiday…or as we like to say at Intrigued.. Hauntnight.
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Now I did manage to see the UK’s second record of this duck in ’97. Would have been a first but a bird a month earlier was later excepted on the official record list, so at the time it was a first if that makes sense (or is my dose of Covid affecting what’s left of my brain?). It was with Pochard (yep them again) but when it finally awoke the head shape was so obvious. It was described as being like a stiletto shoe (hmmm guess someone should get out more, bit kinky).
Condolences to Brad’s family on their loss.
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Makes sense to me (although sorry to hear about the Covid bout). Kinky Bird would be a good name for the Canvasback – especially based on my last picture ha. Been sounding like you have had a weird Spring through the start of Fall, we have been lucky that it has been a cool year overall (contrary to the alarmist wishes) and the rain has been keeping our wells refreshed (knock on wood). If you are still fighting the Covid bug best wishes for knocking that out soon. Appreciate you coming by B. and glad you got to experience this species in person.
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The weather here has been all over the place and depends on what part of the Country you are in if it was good or bad for whatever wildlife you were looking for. The last three weeks over on the west coast (mostly Wales) has seen unprecedented numbers of Nth American passerines make landfall including several 1sts, 2nd and 3rds for the UK! For those who go twitching it was crazy. Over here zilch, but that’s life.
As for the ‘vid no idea how or where I caught it but it’s not much fun and Mrs H is still testing negative!
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I did hear about a number of our passerines paying a visit there – think it was due to one of the hurricanes that hit offshore. Sounds like our house on the ‘vid front. Linda managed to catch it earlier in the year and fought with it for a week (only bad flu level symptoms) where I tested negative the entire duration – I credit the 7 miles a day I was running during that time to ward off the evil plague – sweat that crap right out of ya’ ha!
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Thank you very much. Jan and her Dad (and the rest of the family) are working through the process. Every bit of support helps them get through each day.
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Thank you to the entire Wildlife Intrigued extended family and friends and readers for your love and support during this very difficult time. Jan and her Dad seem to be doing OK and appreciate the well wishes. My mother-in-law, a true friend really, will be missed.
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Stay strong!
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I’ve never eaten duck, but black forest pie sounds great right now. I’ve also never seen a canvas back duck, but I’m glad to know about them now. Have a happier week ahead.
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Thank you. We are looking forward to a “normal” week.
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Well, I have to say I am not a fan of Duck so you are not missing anything there. Glad I was able to prepare you for your next time out in the field – my guess is they have been there, you just might not have been able to recognized them in the midst of all the other similarly colored Ducks – just remember “pie wedge” and you’ll be able to impress your companions. As always, appreciate you dropping in.
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First time in your blog. I am living in Finland, where the nature and birds are so different from yours. Interesting story, thank you for sharing.
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Greetings from the States Minna, glad you were able to find us! Also excited to hear you enjoyed the post and looking forward to sharing more with you in the future. You have wonderful shots on your nature blog as well!
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Thank you so much! I am glad to hear that you visited my blog and liked it.
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Our condolonces, Brad and Jan and extended family.
Brian, has Linda figured out your scheme to get out of doing housework yet?
I must admit, having lived in the actual Black Forest for a time, that I was really looking forward to a yummy recipe for that luscious pie we used to enjoy at the local gasthaus. Instead, I get duck.
No worries. I happen to like ducks – the flying ones that are not in a pie – more than pie. We will see a handful of the big Canvasbacks and Redheads during winter migration. Your details on separating the species is helpful. Except that part where I’m longing for pie. Sigh.
Heal quickly.
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Wally, thank you very much. We appreciate all of the support sent our way.
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I think she is on to my plan Wally….may have to up my injury game if I’m going to get any sympathy from this point on. Apologies for the lack of recipe, there is one and only one given in the universe and that is you DO NOT want me anywhere near a kitchen so there is something of a silver lining with the other direction taken in the post. Crap, now I am craving pie – a self inflicted hunger wound (hmmm, wonder if that can get me out of the trash chore). Appreciate you coming by. Planning to dig into the Florida finds soon (hint, one rhymes with “kale sights”.
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Good photos of their beady red eyes, Brian. I had never heard of the pie slice ID trick. You’re right, that’s easy to remember.
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Thank you Siobhan! I am always looking for hints and aids to help me in the field – so many ducks and many of them share the same coloring. Glad I could share. Appreciate the visit.
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