Canvasback is a large duck that lives in North America. The duck is named for the male’s grayish-white back and sides, which resemble the color of canvas. The male also has a reddish-brown head and neck and a black breast. The female is gray and brown. Canvasbacks are about 21 inches (53 centimeters) long and weigh 2 to 3 pounds (0.9 to 1.4 kilograms). They dive underwater to feed on wild celery, clams, and other plants and animals that live on the bottom of lakes and marshes.
Canvasbacks breed in marshes on the Canadian prairies and in Alaska. The birds usually build nests in clumps of cattails or bulrushes. The female canvasback lays seven to nine greenish eggs. Another kind of duck, the redhead, often lays its eggs in canvasback nests.
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Canvasbacks spend the winter in Chesapeake Bay, San Francisco Bay, and other areas on the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of the United States and Mexico. Many hunters prize the duck as a game bird.
