Common Pochard

Generally known as the Pochard in Britain, the Common Pochard (Aythya Ferina) is intermediate in shape and color between the Canvasback and Redhead (Aythya Americana). They have brilliant bright-red or reddish-orange eyes contrast with a bulbous, round head. Common Pochards (Aythya Ferina) gather in flocks during the postnuptial and winter and mix freely with other diving ducks, parties usually remain together away from others when sleeping. Common Pochards (Aythya Ferina) fly swiftly on rusting wing beats and travel in monospecific flocks, often in compact groups when engaged in short local flights. They forage at night and feed on insect larvae. They spend much of their day dozing in compact rafts on open water. Basically steppe nesters, pairs of Common Pochards (Aythya Ferina) stop short of the tundra and are only thinly distributed throughout the taiga and boreal forests. The more northerly breeders are migratory, whereas those nesting in temperate regions frequently remain year-round. Wintering Common Pochards (Aythya Ferina) occasionally congregate in tidal estuaries and sheltered brackish coastal bays, but the open sea is generally shunned. Pair bonds may be cemented on the wintering grounds, though many do not pair until the spring on breeding grounds. Drakes can outnumber females by as much as eight to one in the north, and two to one in more southern latitudes, hence courtship is spirited. Pairs breed as high as 8,500 feet in Tibet and other regions. Common Pochard (Aythya Ferina) nests are often concealed in tall, fringing, emergent vegetation, especially on overgrown islets inaccessible to mammalian predators. While rich in submerged plant and animal life, favored haunts are usually uncluttered by surface vegetation. Common Pochards (Aythya Ferina) range has expanded greatly during the past 150 years, with Italy, Greece, Switzerland and Austria all colonized since the Second World War.