The Canvasback

By Al Lowe
Contributor

The Canvasback is reputed to be the best tasting duck in the world. This is probably due to its diet of green plants. It is especially fond of the wild celery, Valisneria. This is a water plant with many names - eel grass, channel weed, etc. The Canvas back feeds mainly on the roots which it gets by diving, sometimes up to 20 feet.
The Canvas back is a large, heavy duck - a meaty bird, well suited to the table. The male bird has a rusty red head and neck, black breast, white belly and light grey back and wings. It has a long beak with a sort of scooped appearance.
This duck nests mainly in western Canada and in the northwestern States. It is not an eastern species, but it does pass through southern Ontario, on its way to the Atlantic coast. From southern Manitoba, which is where our north Ontario Canvasbacks would come from, the migration would be mainly east and south.
Such a popular game bird is bound to get into difficulties, and this one has been in trouble for years. Numbers have been reduced to such dangerous levels that both Canada and the United States imposed severe restrictions on the hunting of them. There is a great deal of concern now as to whether the Canvasback can realistically make a good comeback.
There are several problems about the breeding of Canvasbacks. One is that they breed in primarily prairie regions, where draining marshes and the filling of potholes has reduced their habitat.
Another is that the females do not breed well until they are several years old. Apparently, young females have great difficulty in both hatching eggs and in rearing young. So, although you might see a flock of 2000 birds, if only 400 of these are adult females (about the normal percentage) then the breeding potential of this flock is only 800 birds.
This duck builds its substantial nest in marshy areas. The nest is made of rushes, grasses and so on. Like all ducks, the mother will line the nest with down from her own breast. The female does not have the splashy colors of the male, being a rather drab brownish bird - her protective coloration.
There is a large population of Canvasbacks in Manitoba, and most of them gather in the Delta Marsh to prepare for the fall migration. Then many of them migrate to the east through Northern Ontario.
So, you hunters, keep your eye out for flocks of these big, red-headed ducks. But don’t shoot any more than the law allows. This bird is teetering on the edge of survival. The Canvasback, Aythya valisneria, is a beautiful and valuable bird. We don’t want to lose it.