A small diving duck that often holds its tail upright. Breeding males have a blue bill and chestnut body; the species breeds in North America.
Its long, stiff tail is often held upright. Breeding males have a blue bill and chestnut body. Females and immatures are brownish, with a dark cap and a faint line across the cheek.
Ruddy Ducks are native to North America. In Europe, captive birds spread into the wild. The 2007 paper records that seven were brought to a zoo collection in England in 1948, and about 90 descendants later escaped.
Researchers genetically examined Spanish samples collected from 1993 to 2003: 31 Ruddy Ducks, 63 White-headed Ducks, and 29 birds suspected of being hybrids. They classified 18 of the 29 as first-generation hybrids, 10 as backcrosses to a parent species, and one as a Ruddy Duck rather than a hybrid. One bird had an uncertain assignment between an F1 and a backcross. First-generation hybrids were fertile, and backcrosses with both parent species were found. Among 43 White-headed Ducks tested at eight DNA markers, none carried Ruddy Duck alleles at those markers. The authors found no evidence of extensive introgression in those samples at the time and suggested early control may have helped limit it.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.
Ruddy Ducks are native to North America, but introduced birds in Europe can hybridize with White-headed Ducks, creating a conservation concern. A French government document reports that winter counts in France fell from 167 birds in 2017–18 to 23 in 2023–24 during LIFE Oxyura (2018–2024). Its follow-up plan calls for monitoring the remaining wild birds and responding quickly to sightings.