Red-crested Pochard

Male
Photo by pale42
Malaga, Spain

Netta rufina

Identification

53–58 cm (20¾-22¾ in)
Male

• Rounded orange head
• Red bill
• Black breast
• White flanks
• Brown back
• Black tail

Female

Female
Photo by Mahsleb
Abberton Reservoir, Essex, UK

• Pale brown
• Darker back and crown
• Whitish face

Distribution

Locally in Southern Europe from the Mediterranean basin to southern and central Asia.

Northern populations may move south into north Africa for the winter.

A popular species in wildfowl collections, so escapes can appear anywhere.

Taxonomy

This is a monotypic species^[1].

Habitat

Photo by I4ani
Doñana, Spain, 2009

Their breeding habitat is lowland marshes and lakes; their preference is for deep water, both fresh and brackish.

Behaviour

Diet

A diving duck, though they also 'dabble' for their food, which is mainly aquatic plants, roots, seeds and will also forage on potatoes.

Breeding

They nest beside freshwater lakes laying 8-12 pale green eggs.

Vocalisation

<flashmp3>Netta rufina (song).mp3</flashmp3>
Listen in an external program

References

1. Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2017. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2017, with updates to August 2017. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
2. Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive (retrieved November 2016)
3. Wikipedia

• List of references

Recommended Citation

• BirdForum Opus contributors. (2025) Red-crested Pochard. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 5 February 2025 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Red-crested_Pochard

External Links

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