Aythya ferina
The Common Pochard (Aythya ferina) is a medium-sized diving duck, instantly recognizable by the drakes' striking appearance: a reddish-chestnut head, a black breast, and a pale grey body with darker flanks. Females are a duller grey-brown with a darker head and breast, and a faint whitish patch around the bill base. Adults typically measure 42-49 cm (17-19 inches) in length, with a wingspan of 72-82 cm (28-32 inches) and weigh between 700-1100g. A distinctive field mark for both sexes is the ...
Common Pochards primarily inhabit shallow, freshwater wetlands, including large, open lakes, marshes, and slow-flowing rivers, especially those with abundant submerged vegetation and emergent cover. They are typically found in lowland areas, avoiding fast-flowing or highly saline environments.
Their diet consists mainly of aquatic vegetation, including seeds, roots, and tubers of pondweeds, sedges, and rushes, supplemented by aquatic invertebrates such as mollusks, insect larvae, and crustaceans, and occasionally small fish. They primarily forage by diving to considerable depths, thoug...
Common Pochards are mostly diurnal, actively foraging during the day, though some nocturnal feeding can occur on moonlit nights. Their foraging strategy involves extensive diving for food, often remaining submerged for 15-30 seconds, interspersed with dabbling in shallower waters. During the bree...
The Common Pochard boasts an extensive Palearctic range, breeding across a broad swath of temperate Europe and Asia, from the United Kingdom eastward through central Siberia and Mongolia to Japan. Its breeding distribution extends north to the Arctic Circle in some areas and south to the Mediterr...
Least Concern
- Common Pochards are impressive divers, capable of remaining submerged for up to 30 seconds and reaching depths of several meters to forage for food. - They are known to lay eggs in the nests of other duck species, including other Common Pochards, Tufted Ducks, and even coots, a behavior known a...