Scientific Name: Lophodytes cucullatus
Residency: Spends winters in western Arizona.
Diet: Eats small fish, frogs, crustaceans, mollusks and aquatic insects.
Predators: When incubating, they are preyed upon by Black Rat Snakes. Eggs are eaten by European Starling, Northern Flicker, Red-headed and Red-bellied Woodpecker.
Nesting: Made of grasses and down placed in a tree cavity or nest box. Eggs are 6-18 per clutch, white, one brood per year.
Nesting Records:
Notes: Courtship occurs in groups of 3-10. Females bob and pump their heads; males raise chest.
Photo: Taken at the Riparian Preserve at the Gilbert Water Ranch on February 17, 2007.

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