2016 - $10 - 1/2 oz. Fine Silver Coloured Coin – Ducks of Canada: Canvasback

Aythya valisineria, North America's largest diving duck, is noted for its exceptional physical abilities and the striking colouration of the drake (male) of the species. This amazing diver feeds primarily in shallow waters, but can dive more than 9 metres when necessary. It is also an incredibly fast flyer; it has been tracked flying at more than 100 kilometres per hour.

Weighing about one kilogram, the canvasback stands approximately 50 centimetres tall and has a wing span of about 85 centimetres. It has a round, stout body and webbed feet. The male bears stunning dark red plumage on its head, a black breast, rump and tail, and canvas-white feathers on its back, wings, and belly—from which the species gets its name. It also has an elegantly sloped forehead and a relatively long black bill. The mal's eyes are bright red. The female's brown and white body and darker red-brown head camouflage her among the marsh vegetation where she makes her nest.

The canvasback spends its summers in breeding grounds on the lakes, ponds, prairie potholes and rivers of western North America, from central Alaska and most of Yukon and the western Northwest Territories through much of Alberta, southern Saskatchewan, and south and western Manitoba and into the north central United States. Unlike most ducks, it does not build its nest on land; instead, it lays its eggs in a floating nest fashioned from marsh vegetation and lined with down. In late autumn, it migrates south and spends its winters on the Pacific coast of the United States, across the south-central United States, along the eastern Atlantic coast, the Gulf coast (especially Louisiana), and across much of northern Mexico.

Specifications
No. 142650
Mintage 10000
Composition 99.99% pure silver
Finish proof
Weight (g) 15.87
Diameter (mm) 34
Edge serrated
Certificate serialized
Face value 10 dollars
Artist Glen Scrimshaw (reverse), Susanna Blunt (obverse)