Like most ducks, the males are often have unusual plummage, colours and markings. Here a male Bufflehead (left) swims by with its ditinctive white spot. The Common Goldeneye, Bucephala clangula, has an unusual white spot beneath its eye.

The wings of diving ducks are smaller in proportion to their size and have a much faster wing beat than the dabbling ducks. With smaller wings they are unable to take off vertically and have to run rapidly across the water before taking to the air.

The Bufflehead was named because of its short neck and head that is puffed out to about twice its true size. It was originally called Buffalo Head because of this characteristic. Here a male is contemplating a short diving excursion.

Ducks have special adapations which allow them to filter water out of the side of their bills, while keeping food in. The male Common Goldeneye on the left is seen filtering for food after a dive.

The female Common Goldeneye has plainer brown colours and no white facial markings but she does have the distinctive eye which gives these ducks their common name.

Common Goldeneyes enjoy their own company and often gather together in great numbers creating a very pretty and busy sight.

The Canvasback, Aythya valisineria, is named after its white back (which is a more of a grayish colour in the female, shown here.) Another noticebable feature is its large, sloping bill. They like to dive deeply (up to 9 m/3 yds), so prefer in the more remote, deeper parts of wetlands. This is also one of the fastest flying ducks.

Canvasbacks breed in the prairie wetlands, building their nests in marshes and lining them with down. They migrate and over-winter on the west coast in saltwater bays.

One of the most common and numerous diving ducks is the Lesser Scaup, Aythya affinis. The males (top right) are noted for being dark at each end and light in the middle. The female (bottom right) is basically brown with a white patch at the base of the bill.

These birds dive for vegetation and invertbrates. They breed often in large concentrations throughout the wetlans and alkes of North America and migrate to coastal areas and even Central America for the winter.

The Ring-necked Duck, Aythya collaris, should really be called the Ring-billed duck because of the very visible ring on bill of both the male (above) and female. The actual ring on the neck which has given this duck its name is really only seen when the bird is in one's hand.

As with many other ducks, the female Ring-necked Duck as has the brown plumage but, as previously noted, retains the characteristic white ring around the bill.

Mergansers are some of the most intreguing looking ducks.

They all dive for fish and have bills that are spike-like with saw- edged which help them grip and hold onto fish.

The Hooded Merganser, Lophodytes cucullatus, is the smallest of this group. The male (above left) has an interesting white crest which can be raised into an amazing fan shape, or lowered as in this picture.

The female (bottom left) lacks the vivid crest but spots a nice "hairdo" of her own.

Common Mergansers, Mergus merganser, throughout the northern continents. In the image above, three females swim by with their noticable red bills and reddish head. Their appearance is a sharp contrast to the usualy dull brown colours of most ducks.

Male Common Mergansers have red blls and green-black head.
Its white body and red feet further help in identification

Female Red-breasted Mergansers, Mergus serrator, also have pointed bills and rusty coloured crests. The one on the right is preparing to do what diving birds love to do.

The male Red-breasted Merganser (left bird in the above left image, and again in the above right image) sports a rusty breast, visible at the waterline. It also has an interesting crest and the characteristics bill.