Ring-necked Duck aka. Ringbill
Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, California, USA
December 2020
Member of the Ducks, Geese, and Swans Family
§A Brace of Ducks§
{Etymology Corner} This duck's name is universally reviled. Every resource that I usually check for bird facts mention that the name is not very accurate, and that the ring around the ducks neck is very hard to see on a living animal. Here are some quotes, because why not:
- This species might better be called the "Ring-billed Duck," for its chestnut neck ring is usually seen only at close range, while the white ring on the bill can be a prominent field mark.
- his bird’s common name (and its scientific name "collaris," too) refer to the Ring-necked Duck's hard-to-see chestnut collar on its black neck. It’s not a good field mark to use for identifying the bird, but it jumped out to the nineteenth century biologists that described the species using dead specimens.
- Despite the name, the ring on its neck is almost never visible.
- The cinnamon neck ring is usually difficult to observe, which is why the bird is sometimes referred to as a "ringbill"
- The "ringneck" name is derived from a faint brownish ring around the base of the neck, which is visible only upon close inspection.
That was 5 different websites (in order: Whatbird, All About Birds, Audubon, Wikipedia, and Ducks Unlimited) finding their own coping strategy for how badly named this bird is. My favorite is wikipedia, which goes so far as to point out that a better alternate name already exists. The only website that resists opining is good old businesslike ebird.org. There aren't really any other interesting facts about this bird. It's just a very sharp looking duck with a bad name.
Gets excited when talking about obscure scientific topics
Bigger in person than you'd expect
Perpetual sinus infections
