{"id":51043,"date":"2018-02-22T05:55:28","date_gmt":"2018-02-22T12:55:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=51043"},"modified":"2023-12-17T06:20:26","modified_gmt":"2023-12-17T13:20:26","slug":"drake-redhead-flapping-his-wings-on-a-february-afternoon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2018\/02\/22\/drake-redhead-flapping-his-wings-on-a-february-afternoon\/","title":{"rendered":"Drake Redhead Flapping His Wings On a February Afternoon"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"DrakeDrake Redhead flapping his wings after preening – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/2500, ISO 640, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Yesterday afternoon I noticed this drake Redhead preening as soon as I got to my local pond and before the engine of the vehicle had even stopped running I tried to focus on him because I hoped he would rise up and give me a good wing flap which is precisely what he did a few seconds later. The Redhead was close enough to get nice details in his plumage but far enough away that I didn’t have to be concerned about clipping his wings.<\/p>\n

Redheads are medium sized diving ducks with rounded heads and although the females are mostly brown and what might be considered plain looking the males in breeding plumage have bright cinnamon colored heads, orange eyes, tricolored bills, dark to black breasts and tails and with gray bodies. Redheads eat submerged aquatic plants, algae, tubers, rhizomes, small fish and invertebrates.<\/p>\n

I’ve been seeing Redheads at my local pond over the winter but most of the time they have stayed on the other side of the pond so having this one up a bit closer and flapping his wings was a delight. As soon as the bird settled back onto the water he paddled away and I lost sight of him.<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to view more of my Redhead photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I’ve been seeing Redheads at my local pond over the winter but most of the time they have stayed on the other side of the pond so having this one up a bit closer and flapping his wings was a delight.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":119119,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27,2460,709,26],"tags":[4004,2461,4053,4753,4483,1129,126,6239,4062,1984,4560,8018,3996,2063,5498,373],"class_list":["post-51043","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-redheads","category-salt-lake-county-utah","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-aythya-americana","tag-breeding-plumage","tag-diving-ducks","tag-drake","tag-duck","tag-ducks-2","tag-flapping","tag-male","tag-pond","tag-redhead","tag-urban","tag-water","tag-waterfowl","tag-wings","tag-winter"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/redhead-drake-wing-flap-mia-mcpherson-3209.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-dhh","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":49425,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/11\/14\/winter-redhead-drakes-in-northern-utah\/","url_meta":{"origin":51043,"position":0},"title":"Winter Redhead Drakes in Northern Utah","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 14, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Redhead drakes are more colorful than the hens and I always enjoy having them in my viewfinder because of their cinnamon colored heads, their bright orange eyes and their tri-colored bills.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Close up of a drake Redhead, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/redhead-drake-portrait-mia-mcpherson-8960.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/redhead-drake-portrait-mia-mcpherson-8960.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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came out for a few hours yesterday afternoon so I went to a pond near where I live and photographed some of the ducks including this very confiding Redhead drake.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Redhead drake portrait, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/redhead-duck-portrait-mia-mcpherson-9081.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/redhead-duck-portrait-mia-mcpherson-9081.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/redhead-duck-portrait-mia-mcpherson-9081.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Over the years that I have spent time photographing at my local pond I have seen a few odd ducks including hen Redheads with white feathers on their faces where they should be a soft brown and they pique my interest every time I view them through my lens.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Female Redhead with white on her head, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/redhead-duck-female-white-headed-variant-mia-mcpherson-0877.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/redhead-duck-female-white-headed-variant-mia-mcpherson-0877.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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