The canvasback is easily recognized by its distinctive coloration and wedge-shaped head and bill profile. Canvasbacks belong to a group of waterfowl known as pochards, or diving ducks. Large, webbed feet on legs located toward the rear of their bodies make them agile underwater swimmers. The location of the legs makes land travel difficult, though, and they are rarely found far from the water's edge.
Canvasbacks use their long, sloping bill to dig in the bottom sediments for food.
In the Bay, with the decline of SAV, the Baltic clam has become a critical food source for wintering canvasbacks. The largest proportion of canvasbacks nest on the North American prairies, from Minnesota and the Dakotas through Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta. By mid-May, the females build a nest of cattail, bulrush or whitetop grass and lay a clutch of eight to 10 greenish eggs. Once the eggs are laid, the males move to larger lakes to molt, leaving the females to raise the young. The ducklings hatch after about 25 days and begin to forage in the wetland for small invertebrates and plants.