with a black tip and a thin ring separating the two colours. Non breeding males lose the copper colour and instead have brown heads. Females Adult females, however, have a yellow to brown head and neck. The breast is brown, the belly is white and the rest of the body is a grey to brown. The female bills are slate with a dark tip that is separated by a blue ring. Females remain the same colour year round. Distribution During breeding season, redheads are found across a wide range of North America, from as far north as Northern Canada to the Caribbean. Their preferred areas include the intermontane regions of British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and the Dakotas with some small localities in Ontario, Quebec and southern United States. These pochards then migrate south to winter in warmer climates. These areas include southern United States where breeding does not occur and extends to Mexico, Guatemala, Cuba, and the Bahamas. In either season, redheads use wetlands as their main habitat. Habitat Small, semi-permanent wetlands in non-forested country where the water is deep enough to provide dense emergent vegetation is considered ideal breeding habitat for redheads. When wintering, redheads switch to large areas of water near the coast that are protected from wave action but can also be found in reservoirs, lakes, playa wetlands, freshwater river deltas, coastal marshes, estuaries and bays. Predators Redheads do not have many predators and are most likely to die of disease or indirect human impact. These ducks are considered less desirable as table fare than their puddle duck cousins like the mallard; however, their beautiful plumage makes them a targeted species for waterfowl hunters looking to focus on diving ducks. Adults can be preyed upon by northern river otters, red-tailed hawks, great horned owls, bald eagles, golden eagles and to a greater extent, minks. Most predation comes in the form of duckling predation and egg foraging. Northern pike and snapping turtles are known to eat ducklings whereas skunks, minks, crows and magpies will steal and eat redhead eggs. Population status The North American Waterfowl Management Plan for redheads is 760,000 North American birds. The population size has increased in the past few decades to well over 1.4 million birds. Redheads make up 2% of North America's duck population and only 1% of its harvested ducks. Populations may be stable because of restrictive bag limits for the