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The Ruddy duck (Oxyura jamaicensis) is a bird found in United States and Canada. Ponds and lakes across the Americas. It eats insects and other small invertebrates and seeds and nuts. The IUCN Red List lists it as Least Concern.

🏡 Where the Ruddy duck lives

Ponds and lakes across the Americas.

🍽️ What it eats

• 🐛 Insects & bugs60%
• 🌰 Seeds & nuts40%

A rough guide to its diet over a year. Source: EltonTraits (Wilman et al. 2014).

Conservation status

Hear the Ruddy duck

Recorded by Micah Riegner (CC BY-NC-SA 3.0), xeno-canto XC169402. Trimmed to a few seconds.

Questions about the Ruddy duck

Where does the Ruddy duck live?

The Ruddy duck lives in United States and Canada. Ponds and lakes across the Americas.

What does the Ruddy duck eat?

insects and other small invertebrates (about 60%), seeds and nuts (about 40%). These are rough shares of its diet over a year, from the EltonTraits database.

Is the Ruddy duck endangered?

There are plenty of these birds. Its IUCN Red List category is Least Concern.

More birds from North America

• Marbled murrelet
• Golden-cheeked warbler
• Saint Lucia oriole
• Semper's warbler
• Black-capped petrel
• Maroon-fronted parrot

Sources: IUCN Red List (via Wikidata), EltonTraits 1.0 (Wilman et al. 2014), GBIF sightings for countries, Wikipedia. Last updated 2026-10-19.