Aythya collaris

Another beautiful duck from Gearheart Marsh today. Duck city!

This is the male Ring-Necked Duck. I spotted nine of this species on the pond today--until Halloween I'd never seen one in Humboldt County at all.

The genus Aythya encompasses 12 species of diving ducks: scaups, pochards, canvasback, redhead and a few other boldly colored ducks. Many of them are some combination of white, gray, and black, and some of them have rich reddish brown heads. The Ring-Necked Duck is distinctive in that white ring around its bill, visible in both the bluish black male and the brown female.

I've seen managed to see seven Aythya, and I've blipped three: Greater Scaup, Tufted Duck, and New Zealand Scaup.