Canvasback

About the Canvasback

The Canvasback is the aristocrat of the diving ducks - a big, long-bodied duck with a distinctive sloping forehead that runs straight into a long black bill, giving the head a wedge-shaped profile no other duck has. The drake wears a rich chestnut-red head, black chest, and canvas-white body; the hen is a soft brown-and-gray version of the same shape.

Canvasbacks are strong, fast fliers and deep divers, feeding on the tubers of wild celery and other aquatic plants pulled from the bottom of open water. They raft up in flocks on big lakes and bays, often with Redheads and scaup, and are wary birds that keep well offshore.

In Texas the Canvasback is a winter visitor from November into March, most numerous on the coastal bays and big reservoirs, with smaller numbers reaching city lakes and park ponds around Austin - where a drake in good light is one of the handsomest ducks of the season.