How to Identify a Ring-necked Duck (Aythya collaris)

• Head pattern: Male: dark purplish-black head, more peaked than scaup, may show iridescence in good light
• Body pattern: Male: distinctive white crescent forming a sharp triangle on the side between breast and back, white bar separates gray sides from black chest
• Bill: Male and Female: bluish-gray bill with a white ring near the tip; female's bill ring is more noticeable
• Head pattern: Female: mostly gray-brown head with a peaked crown shape not found in female Redheads
• Wing patch (speculum): Male: black back and a gray (not white) speculum, contrasting with the white speculum on both scaup species

Ring-necked Duck male has a black back and a gray (not white) speculum in flight, unlike the white speculum of both scaup species; it also shows a white ring near the bill tip that scaup lack The Greater Scaup page lists its own marks.

Wooded lakes and ponds; rivers and bays in winter; freshwater marshes, ponds, and bogs mainly in openings in forested country Breeds across Canada and the northern US in forested wetlands; winters across the southern and coastal US

Flies with fast, choppy wing strokes in loose flocks

Shoot from water level if you can, with the sun behind you, so head pattern and the wing patch show their true colors. Get one frame with the bird side-on and one as it stretches or flaps, which exposes the speculum and belly. Note who it is swimming with; ducks flock by species. The app names the likely species; confirm with the marks above, and check the female separately, since females of many ducks look alike.