Common pochard

Aythya ferina

A diving duck with a chestnut head and gray body, now classed as vulnerable after declines across parts of its range.

Key facts

Common pochard (Aythya ferina) is an omnivore animal classified as Bird · Anseriformes · Anatidae.
Primary habitats are freshwater · coast, with a range across Palearctic · Afrotropical · Indomalayan.
Activity is diurnal, sociality is herd, and conservation status is VU (Vulnerable).
A diving duck with a chestnut head and gray body, now classed as vulnerable after declines across parts of its range.
Uses lakes, marshes, reservoirs, estuaries, and coastal lagoons, breeding in freshwater with reeds and aquatic plants.

Habitat range map

Native rangeOccasional / Transient

Map: Ecoregions 2017 © RESOLVE (CC BY 4.0) · Natural Earth (PD)

Uses lakes, marshes, reservoirs, estuaries, and coastal lagoons, breeding in freshwater with reeds and aquatic plants.

Males have a chestnut head, black breast, and gray body. Females are brown with a paler face area.

Flocks rest on open water and dive for food, forming large winter groups on quiet waters.

Aquatic plants, seeds, mollusks, crustaceans, and aquatic insects are taken from the bottom.

Nests are hidden in waterside vegetation. Females incubate, and ducklings move onto water soon after hatching.

Wetland alteration, hunting pressure, lead poisoning, and water-quality decline are among concerns behind its status.