There are many beautiful ducks at the San Diego Zoo, and those that are in the open lagoons are free to come and go as they please since they are visitors to the Zoo and and not official residents.

Over in the Flamingo Lagoon and are a couple of ruddy ducks (Oxyura jamaicensis). If you can't find them there, walk about a hundred feet down towards the Tour Bus loading area, and you'll probably find them in the lagoon across from the tour busses. There are also a couple of these beautiful ducks in one of the enclosed lagoons over near Polar Bear plunge.

The ruddy duck occurs throughout most of North America. The males, above, are very easy to spot because of their distinctive blue bill. The females can easily be confused with female mallard ducks, of which there are plenty at the Zoo. The ruddy duck is a diving bird that can swim very well under water, eating the seeds and roots of aquatic plants, as well as aquatic insects and crustaceans.

The ruddy duck is not threatened in its native range, but its aggressiveness in interbreeding with some other ducks has created problems in Great Britain where it escaped, or was released, from private collections. Interbreeding with the endangered white-headed duck (Oxyura leucocephala) of southern Europe has resulted in calls to cull the ruddy duck from the feral populations there since it is not a species native to Europe. 

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