Common Name: Common Pochard
Scientific Name: Aythya ferina
LEAST CONCERN Common Pochard Distribution: Europe & Asia Habitat: Freshwater & Estuaries
Height: 42 - 58cm Weight: 900 - 1100g Diet: Omnivorous
The Common Pochard male has a light grey upper body and flanks, with a brown-red head and neck, and a black breast and tail. The female is brown with a chestnut brown head and breast, lighter brown upper side and paler brown underside. When flying, both sexes have a grey wing-stripe. The bill is slate grey in colour with a black tip. And the legs and feet are grey. The common pochard has a very scattered distribution. The species is found in Iceland, west Europe and eastern and central Asia to south eastern Russia. There are also scattered populations from Turkey through the south Palaearctic to China and Japan. The pochard occupies swamps, marshes, lakes, slow flowing rivers, surrounded by substantial vegetation and in winter can be found in reservoirs and estuaries. The diet of the common pochard is extremely varied and it eats seeds, roots, grass, aquatic plants, small invertebrates, amphibians and fish. There are obtained by a variety of methods including diving, dabbling on the surface and filtering mud. The female lays 8 – 10 eggs which she incubates for 25 days. The nest is a dip in a pile of grass, reeds and leaves which the female collects. The top is lined with down and the nest may be on the ground or in the water but is concealed well in the vegetation. The young are ready to fledge in 50 – 55 days and are mature at one year old.