Ring-necked Duck

All winter, Erika and I listed Ring-necked Ducks Olympia’s Capital Lake—this drake on 16 March 2021. This duck’s neck ring is often invisible, even in close-up views like this one. The drake’s white-ringed bill is a better field mark. Ring-necked Ducks prefer smaller, freshwater lakes and are less often seen in Puget Sound. These ducks are migrants and/or winter residents across most of the United States. They breed across Canada, spilling over into most our our northern states. They also breed south into the northern Rockies. In Washington, they breed in the east, but only rarely in the west.