Most Unwanted: Ruddy duck
Oxyura jamaicensis
Habitat: Terrestrial
Threat: Threatens the endangered white-headed duck
Status: Established
Ruddy ducks (Oxyura jamaicensis) are small, stout freshwater diving ducks with broad, short wings and narrow, stiff tails. The male is unmistakable, with its bright chestnut red breeding plumage, cobalt blue bill and narrow stiff cocked tail. The female is a duller brown colour. It is a relatively small duck (35-43cm long, with a wingspan of 53-62cm) and is rarely seen away from water.
What is it
Ruddy Ducks inhabit lowland wetlands with lush emergent vegetation and suitable patches of open water. They favour pools with fairly shallow bottoms and those which are rich in floating and submerged aquatic plants. The birds actively avoid flowing freshwaters and estuaries and saline lagoons. Rudy Ducks are omnivorous, primarily feeding on insect larvae and aquatic plant seeds by surface diving.
Impact
Threaten the survival of the globally endangered White-headed Duck Oxyura leucocephala with which it hybridises.
Click here to access the EU action plan on White Head duck .
Where is it from
North and Central America, and the northern part of South America.
Introduced into wildfowl collections in the UK in the 1950s
Small resident populations in France, and the Netherlands.
The UK holds 95% of the feral Ruddy Ducks in Europe.
How did it get here?
Natural dispersal from Britain to Ireland.
Where are they in Ireland?
Northern Ireland population is estimated at twenty five to thirty pairs with a wintering population of around seventy to seventy five birds. The expansion into the Republic of Ireland is less well documented. Numbers may be underestimated due to the secretive nature of the species and it is possible that this is species is much rarer in the region.
What you can do
Do not keep ruddy duck.
Report all sightings.
Additional reading
Habitas Invasive Alien Species in Northern Ireland
