The redhead is a diving duck that is 16.5-21.3 inches (42-54 cm) in length with a wingspan of 29.5-31.1 inches (75-79 cm).
It has a rounded head and a grayish-blue bill with a black tip. It has grayish-blue legs and feet and a gray stripe on its wings.
The male has a copper-colored head, a gray back, and a black breast and rump.
The female is grayish-brown on her back, sides, and wings. She has a lighter grayish-brown belly.
The redhead is found in shallow freshwater lakes, ponds, marshlands, coastal waters, and bays.
Redhead pairs form in the late winter or the early spring. The female lays 10-16 eggs in a cup-shaped nest lined with down and attached to reeds and other marsh vegetation. The male leaves the female once she begins to incubate the eggs.
The eggs hatch in 25-26 days. The ducklings are precocial and can feed themselves shortly after hatching. The ducklings fledge (develop flight feathers) when they are about two months old. The female sometimes lays her eggs in the nests of other ducks.
The redhead has a lifespan of 5-10 years in the wild. In captivity, it can live to be 20 years old.
Like most diving ducks, the redhead’s legs are set back on its body to help it swim and dive. It is awkward on land, and it has to run across the water to take off in flight.
The male has a meow-like call, and the female makes a squawking sound.
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The redhead does not breed in New Hampshire, but it can be spotted in the state in the non-breeding season.
The redhead breeds in central Alaska, the Great Plains, the Great Lakes, and in some areas of the western U.S. and Canada.
It winters in the southern U.S. and along the Atlantic and Pacific coasts south into Mexico.
