Aythya americana
Order Anseriformes
Family Anatidae
Subfamily Anatinae
♂ Adult male.— Head and neck rich reddish-brown; breast and upper back black; back gray, with very narrow wavy black lines speculum gray; belly white; feathers under tail black; bill, broad and flat, rising at base abruptly toward forehead, slate, crossed by a black bar at tip; legs and feet gray.
♀ Adult female.— Top of head and neck pale brown; back brownish-gray; chin white; throat, neck, breast, and sides brown, middle of belly white; lower belly brown; bill and feet slate.
The Redhead is a regular, though rare, migrant in New England; on the Long Island coast it is regular, though it varies in numbers; in the lower Hudson Valley it is a common migrant. It occurs in April and October, and occasionally winters off Long Island. It visits both the inland ponds and the coast. An adult male can be confused only with the much rarer Canvas-back, from which the broad flat bill should distinguish it. Care must be taken not to take the female Whistler [Common Goldeneye] for the Red-head; the former has a dull reddish-brown head, and shows a considerable patch of white on the wing.
Hoffmann – A Guide to the Birds of New England and Eastern New York (1904)