This duck stays year-round in wetlands of North America. Its brown plumage includes a blue iridescent wing patch, and males have bright yellow bills.
Its plumage is brown, with an iridescent blue speculum on the wing. Females are greyer than males, whose bills are bright yellow. Both sexes have a smoky-grey U-shaped mark on the underside.
It uses freshwater wetlands, wet prairies, marshes, and brackish ponds, and many birds stay in the same area year-round. Nests are built in dense grass on the ground or over shallow water; females lay five to thirteen eggs.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.