The Canvasback is supremely adapted to the water and rarely ventures onto land. Diving as many as ten times in five minutes, this handsome duck has a long bill for probing deep into submerged mud. A wary disposition, general scarcity, and the male’s dapper plumage make Canvasback sightings a great reward for bird watchers.

Canvasbacks breed exclusively in North America from the northern Great Plains into eastern Oregon, then north through the Canadian prairies into the interior of Alaska. Wintering Canvasbacks range along the mid-Atlantic states south through Georgia and then westward into Arizona. They winter as far north as Missouri and as far south as central Mexico. Along the west coast, this diving duck winters from Puget Sound through Baja California. During migration, the Canvasback can be found across most of the United States.

 

A legend for the range map to the right can be found here.

Canvasback populations have fluctuated since the 1940s, but declines have been significant since the early 1950s, with the most severe losses in the early 1970s and 1980s. Compared to other ducks, Canvasbacks are fairly scarce; their low numbers have prompted Maryland, Minnesota, Washington, and Wyoming to designate this duck as a “species of conservation concern.” In 2004, the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service included the Canvasback on its list of “Game Birds Below Desired Condition.”

 

An explanation of the Annual Indices graph displayed to the right can be found here.

The Canvasback faces two basic challenges: habitat loss and hunting pressure, especially poaching. In addition, polluted water, shrinking wetlands, dry conditions on the breeding grounds, and disappearing water plants all negatively effect Canvasback populations.

 

From 1951 to 1981, a significant amount of acreage in Alberta, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan was converted to farming and contributed to the destruction of about 40% of this region’s original wetlands. At the same time, drought conditions further shrunk breeding habitat and made nests more accessible to predators. Canvasback populations plummeted. Important Bird Areas have since targeted key staging sites like eastern Lake St. Clare and the lower Detroit River in Michigan, where waterfowl inventories reported near-record lows for Canvasbacks between 2000 and 2004. On the Trempealeau and Upper Mississippi National Wildlife Refuges, Canvasbacks have benefited from management practices aimed at the recovery of wild celery, a primary food source.

 

Join a local field trip to look for Canvasbacks as they migrate through or winter in your area. Escape the northern winter and visit Canvasbacks at the Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge near Rio Hondo, Texas, where this special duck and other rare and endangered species can be observed in natural habitats.

 

Provide for the protection of and research on Canvasbacks by purchasing a Federal Duck Stamp.

 

For more actions you can take, including Audubon activities, please visit our resources page.

Visit our resources page for more information about this species.

Chipley, Robert M., George H. Fenwick, Michael J. Parr, and David N. Pashley. The American Bird Conservancy Guide to the 500 Most Important Bird Areas in the United States. New York: Random House, Inc. 2003.

 

“Game Birds Below Desired Condition.” 2004. Migratory Bird Status Report. U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service Publication.

 

“INDICATOR: Canvasback Population in Lake St. Clair/Detroit River/Western Lake Erie Basin.” Detroit River-Western Lake Erie Basin Indicator Project. U. S. Environmental Protection Agency. Updated 4 December 2006.

 

Kaufman, Kenn. Lives of North American Birds. Houghton Mifflin Company, New York, 1996.

 

Mowbray, T. B. 2002. Canvasback (Aythya valisineria). In The Birds of North America, No. 659 (A. Poole and F. Gill, Eds.). The Birds of North America, Inc., Philadelphia, PA.

 

Sibley, David Allen. The Sibley Guide to Birds. Alfred A. Knopf, New York. 2000.