Overview
The adult male has a long dark bill with a grey band, a red head and neck, a black breast, red eyes and a grey back. The adult female has a brown head and body and a narrower grey bill-band. The triangular head shape is distinctive. Pochards are superficially similar to the closely related North American redhead and canvasback. Females give hoarse growls. Males have whistles cut off by a final nasal note aaoo-oo-haa.
Taxonomy
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Bird
- Family
- Anatidae
- Genus
- Aythya
- Species
- ferina
Habitat
Their breeding habitat consists of marshes and lakes with a metre or more water depth.
Diet
They eat aquatic plants with some molluscs, aquatic insects and small fish. They often feed at night, and will up-end for food as well as the more characteristic diving.
Behavior
These are gregarious birds, forming large flocks in winter. They feed mainly by diving or dabbling.
Hunting
In a number of countries the population of Common Pochard is decreasing, mainly due to urbanization of the natural habitats and their transformation, as well as due to overhunting.
Conservation Status
Listed as Vulnerableby IUCN.