Oxyura jamaicensis
Status: Common, locally abundant, regular spring and fall migrant statewide. Locally uncommon regular breeder Sandhills, rare Rainwater Basin, rare casual elsewhere. Rare casual summer and winter visitor statewide.
Documentation: Specimen: UNSM ZM12481, 26 Dec 1912 Lancaster Co.
Taxonomy: No subspecies are recognized (Gill et al 2022).
Two subspecies are recognized by some authorities: North American birds, O. j. rubida, and those of the West Indies, O. j. jamaicensis. Others, however, consider O. j. rubida weakly differentiated (Pyle 2008, Clements et al 2016, Brua 2020), which would result in a monotypic Ruddy Duck in North America. Recent authors (Carboneras and Kirwan 2017; Brua 2020, Gill et al 2022) suggest merging the two, despite distinct breeding ranges and different migratory behavior (Brua 2020). We follow the merged status.
One with an all-white head was at Whitman, Grant Co 14 and 20 Mar 2018; this condition is not mentioned in major waterfowl references and is probably an example of bilateral partial leucism.
Changes Since 2000: Reports of Ruddy Ducks overwintering or lingering well into Jan have increased; overwintering was first noticed at Lake Ogallala, Keith Co in 1999-2000 and at Carter Lake, Omaha, Douglas Co in 2011-2012.
Spring: Feb 12, 13, 14 <<<>>> Jun 16, 17, 17
See Summer for later dates from locations where breeding was not noted. Peak numbers occur in mid-Apr.
- High counts: “thousands” at North Platte WTP, Lincoln Co 21-30 Apr 2005, 1500 at Crescent Lake NWR, Garden Co 3 Apr 2024, 1000 at Bluestem SRA, Lancaster Co 31 Mar 2024, and 742 in Lancaster Co 22 Mar 2012.
Summer: The highest breeding densities are found in the western Sandhills (Mollhoff 2001). Breeding also occurs irregularly in the Rainwater Basin, often in response to periods when wetlands have relatively high water (Jorgensen 2012, 2016). There are about 25 documented instances of breeding in the Rainwater Basin, including four in 2019 (Jorgensen and Brenner 2019), as well as numerous summer reports without breeding evidence.
Despite several breeding season reports from Lancaster, Douglas, and Sarpy Cos, there is only one record of breeding: Cink (1975) reported a female with three young near Sprague, Lancaster Co 25 Jun 1972.
In most years there are scattered summer (19 Jun-11 Sep) reports statewide, although years of higher water levels such as 2008 and 2019 may result in widespread reports of summering birds away from the mapped breeding range. Such birds are probably immature non-breeders, as a high proportion of Ruddy Ducks do not breed until two years of age (Baldassarre 2014); a lone breeding plumaged male, however, may indicate the presence of a breeding pair. Many non-breeders remain on the wintering grounds through the breeding season (Brua 2020).
The North Platte WTP, Lincoln Co is a favored site for apparent non-breeders; good counts there are 14-20 on 22 Jun-8 Jul 2006, 48-60 from 21 Jul-1 Sep 2000, and 96 in “all plumages” 23 Jun 2002. In Harlan Co, there are seven records 12 Jun-30 Jul including a flock of 17 probable non-breeders in basic plumage at Harlan County Reservoir, Harlan Co 16 Jun 2000.
- Breeding phenology:
- Eggs: 22 May- 27 Jul (Mollhoff 2022).
- Dependent fledglings: 14-20 Jul.
Fall: Sep 11, 12, 12 <<<>>> Jan 7, 7, 8
Breeding males remain on the breeding grounds until late Jul or early Aug, where some molt; most do not disperse long distances for the pre-basic molt (Baldassarre 2014, Howell 2010).
Migrants are evident in scattered low numbers by early Sep and peak numbers occur from mid-Oct into early Nov. A few linger into late Dec, but this is not a cold-tolerant species. Unusually late high counts were the 71-74 at Highway 6 and Pflug Road, Sarpy Co 6 Jan 2024, and 55 at Wehrspann Lake, Sarpy Co 20 Dec 1998.
- High counts: 1645 in Lancaster Co 5 Nov 2014, 1500 at North Platte WTP 28 Oct 1996, and 1492 at Lake Minatare, Scotts Bluff Co 16 Oct 1999.
Winter: Overwintering is rare. Lake Ogallala, Keith Co is a regular location; best tally was the 11 there 1999-2000. In recent winters, Carter Lake, Omaha, Douglas Co has hosted wintering Ruddy Ducks: from 2011-2012 through 2016-2017 up to seven birds were present 6 Jan-18 Feb.
Away from those locations, there are two records of overwintering: in Sioux Co, up to 17 wintered on University Lake 1995-96 and singles wintered at Holmes Lake, Lancaster Co 2015-2016 and 5 Jan-18 Feb 2018.
Additional mid-winter (8 Jan-11 Feb) records are 9-18 Jan 2019 Lancaster Co, 10 Jan 2024 (2) Holmes Lake, Lancaster Co, 15 Jan 1991 (15) Howard-Hall Cos, 16 Jan 2002 Lincoln Co, 2 Feb 1997 Stanton Co, 3-7 Feb 2024 Skyview Lake, Madison Co, and 8-10 Feb 2020 Omaha, Douglas Co.
Images
Abbreviations
NWR: National Wildlife Refuge
UNSM: University of Nebraska State Museum
WTP: Water Treatment Plant
Literature Cited
Baldassarre, G. 2014. Ducks, geese, and swans of North America. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
Brua, R.B. 2020. Ruddy Duck (Oxyura jamaicensis), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (P. G. Rodewald, Editor). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.rudduc.01.
Carboneras, C., and G.M. Kirwan. 2017. Ruddy Duck (Oxyura jamaicensis). In: del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A., Sargatal, J., Christie, D.A. & de Juana, E. (eds.). Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona.
Cink, C.L. 1975. Some waterfowl breeding records for Lancaster County. NBR 43: 40-41.
Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2016. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2016, accessed 30 January 2018.
Gill, F., D. Donsker, and P. Rasmussen (Eds). 2022. IOC World Bird List (v 12.2). Doi 10.14344/IOC.ML.12.2. http://www.worldbirdnames.org/
Howell, S.N.G. 2010. Molt in North American Birds. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
Jorgensen, J.G. 2012. Birds of the Rainwater Basin, Nebraska. Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, Lincoln, Nebraska, USA.
Jorgensen, J.G. 2016. A summary of 2015 breeding bird surveys of selected Rainwater Basin wetlands. Nongame Bird Program of the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, Lincoln, Nebraska, USA.
Jorgensen, J.G., and S.J. Brenner. 2019. Notable avian nesting records from the Rainwater Basin, Nebraska — 2019. Nongame Bird Program of the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, Lincoln, Nebraska, USA
Mollhoff, W.J. 2001. The Nebraska Breeding Bird Atlas 1984-1989. Nebraska Ornithologists’ Union Occasional Papers No. 7. Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, Lincoln, Nebraska, USA.
Mollhoff, W.J. 2022. Nest records of Nebraska birds. Nebraska Ornithologists’ Union Occasional Paper Number 9.
Pyle, P. 2008. Identification Guide to North American Birds. Part II, Anatidae to Alcidae. Slate Creek Press, Bolinas, California, USA.
Recommended Citation
Silcock, W.R., and J.G. Jorgensen. 2024. Ruddy Duck (Oxyura jamaicensis). In Birds of Nebraska — Online. www.BirdsofNebraska.org
Birds of Nebraska – Online
Update 1 Jun 2024