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Canvasback duck diving In the early 1950s it was estimated that there were 225,000 canvasbacks wintering in the Chesapeake Bay ; this represented one-half of the entire North American population. By 1985, there were only 50,000 ducks wintering there, or one-tenth of the population.
Aythya is a genus of diving ducks, with twelve species currently accepted. [2] The genus was described in 1822 by the German zoologist Friedrich Boie, with the type species being greater scaup. [3] [4] The name Aythya comes from the Ancient Greek word αἴθυιᾰ (aithuia), which referred to an unknown diving-bird. [5] [6]
They are known to target diving diver ducks such as bluebills (greater scaup), canvasback, goldeneye, scoter and eider to name a few. Layout hunters usually deploy large spreads of diver ducks in open water areas. Many successful patterns have been created for these spreads over the years. Some layout hunters will use as many as 300 decoys or more.
The diving ducks, commonly called pochards or scaups, are a category of duck which feed by diving beneath the surface of the water. They are part of Anatidae, the diverse and very large family that includes ducks, geese, and swans. The diving ducks are placed in a distinct tribe in the subfamily Anatinae, the Aythyini.
The common merganser (North American) or goosander (Eurasian) (Mergus merganser) is a large sea duck of rivers and lakes in forested areas of Europe, Asia, and North America. The common merganser eats mainly fish. It nests in holes in trees.
Many species of ducks and geese share the same habitat and have overlapping hunting seasons. [10] In North America a variety of ducks and geese are hunted, the most common being mallards, Canada goose, snow goose, canvasback, redhead, northern pintail, gadwall, ruddy duck, coots, common merganser and red-breasted merganser. [11]
The fastest duck ever recorded was a red-breasted merganser that attained a top airspeed of 100 mph (160 km/h) while being pursued by an airplane. This eclipsed the previous speed record held by a canvasback clocked at 72 mph (116 km/h).
The species name is the Latin word ferina, meaning "wild game" (derived from ferus, meaning "wild"). [10] The common name "pochard" was first applied to the duck in the mid-1500s; its origin and etymology is unknown. [11] It is also sometimes known as European pochard, Eurasian pochard, or (particularly in the UK) simply pochard. [12]