- Aythya ferina
Identification
Common Pochard (Aythya ferina) A mid-sized diving duck - male has a chestnut red head, most of the body is light grey, with black chest and tail end. Female a dull brown/grey bird, the head is a richer brown with pale markings at the base of the bill and around the eye.
Range
Breeds in western Europe from the British Isles and France east to Central Europe and more continuously from the shores of the Baltic and eastern Europe east across Asia south of the tundra to Mongolia and western China. Small numbers breed outside main range in Iceland, Spain, Italy and Greece, in Turkey and in Hokkaido, Japan. A summer visitor to northernmost parts of range. Winters throughout the British Isles and western Europe, around the Mediterranean, Black and Caspian Seas, in India, southern China and Japan. Small numbers winter in sub-Saharan Africa. Vagrants recorded the Faroes, Azores, Madeira; Canary Islands and Cape Verde Islands, Gambia, Thailand, Hong Kong, Philippines, Hawaii and the Aleutian Islands.
Habitat
Usually breeds on medium-large, fairly deep freshwaters with some marginal vegetation. On passage and in winter often on larger, more open waters, particularly reservoirs and gravel-pits, also estuaries and sometimes on sheltered seas.
Bird Song
<flashmp3>Aythya ferina (song).mp3</flashmp3>
Listen in an external program
