Please see picture gallery below – if you have any pix please send to sheilaelliot@yahoo.com)

December Bird of the Month – Ring-necked Duck

From Ben Kolstad’s article in the December Kite:
One of our most common winter ducks, the ring-necked, Aythya collaris, is one of those ducks that was obviously named before birding by binoculars was in vogue: the most prominent ring on this bird is on the bill, not the neck! To be sure, the duck is collared, or ring-necked, but this is not a good field mark. The ring on the bill, on the other hand, is what differentiates it from its close relatives and lookalikes, the scaups (greater and lesser). These are diving ducks, unlike the string of dabbling ducks we’ve just concluded, so they need deeper water and more room for take-offs than those “puddle ducks.” Ringnecked Ducks, though, are found in shallower and smaller ponds much more frequently than the other diving ducks. Ring-necked Ducks are common winter residents in Palm Beach County; you can find them in just about any site with open water. Come to our December meeting to hear more about this distinctive winter resident of our local wetlands.
Come to our December meeting to hear more about this bird.

(Photographer’s please note that next month’s January 2015 Bird will be the Bald Eagle)