Aythya valisineria

The canvasback is a true pochard, a diving duck whose legs are set far back and far apart. It runson top of the water when taking off.

They breed in prairie potholes and winter on ocean bays. They are distinguished from redheaded and other ducks by the sloping profile of the head to the tip of the mandible.

The canvasback population has fluctuated widely. Numbers hit a low in the 1980s when it was listed as a species of special concern. It rebounded in the 1990s. Today, the ponds around the Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area Nature Center are loaded with these ducks.

The canvasback name originated years ago on the East Coast when they were the predominant duck on the Chesapeake and Delaware bays. Market hunters packed them in canvas sacks and stenciled on the sides "Canvas Back," meaning they wanted the sacks returned. Hotel chefs thought it was the name of the duck, since the birds did have a pale gray back and sides and a white belly.

By Bill Fenimore, owner of the Layton Wild Bird Center, author of Backyard Birds of Utah and member of the Utah Wildlife Board.