On most winter areas, there is a steady departure lasting almost to mid-April. On lakes midway to their breeding grounds, canvasbacks appear in small numbers in late February, with populations rapidly increasing through March. Pairs occupy the larger, deeper ponds for feeding, resting, and courting but use the smaller, shallower ponds for nesting. These ponds are usually less than an acre and are encircled by bands of cattails and bulrushes. They sometimes build their nests on muskrat houses and rarely on dry ground.
Raccoons are the most common predators of canvasback nests.
Skunks are the second most important mammalian predator of canvasback nests in the prairie breeding grounds. They are especially destructive in years when water recedes from marginal marsh cover, leaving nests stranded on dry ground, or when low water at the beginning of the nesting season necessitates placing nests out of the water. Additionally coyotes, foxes, minks, and weasels prey on ducklings and adults. In the 1930's the population decreased after a series of drought years prevented any reasonable breeding success. Current population numbers were not found in the literature.