These diminutive diving birds swim a bit like ducks, then they suddenly dive and disappear for up to several minutes hunting for small fish and other aquatic life. They may surface many meters from their starting point.

In the Sonoran Desert they are commonly seen during the winter months in ponds, along canals and in slow/dammed portions of the rivers. The ring on the beak is very faint during its non-breeding stay in the Sonoran Desert.