Ferruginous Pochard

Ferruginous (Aythya Nyroca) or Common White-eyes range widely throughout Eurasia and North Africa. Smallest and daintiest of the Pochards are basically lowland birds, they reach higher altitudes only marginally in central Asia, and occasionally as high as 15,000 feet in southern Tibet. Rising from the water easily they are capable of practically springing into the air, an ability that no doubt facilitates life in thickly vegetated haunts. Ferruginous Pochards (Aythya Nyroca) tend to seek concealment in the reeds, or swim underwater away from danger rather than fly. Secretive ducks that skull in aquatic vegetation for much of the time, they are nearly as elusive during the winter as in summer. Wintering Pochards, however, may gravitate to larger lakes, lagoons and coastal marshes that support less emergent cover. Ferruginous (Aythya Nyroca) are not overly gregarious ducks, larger aggregations occur only prior to migration following the postnuptial molt. Even then, however, flocks rarely exceed 300 birds. Generally diving in fairly shallow water less than five feet deep, the pochards possibly prey extensively on insect larvae in some regions. Pair bonds are firmly established by the time the ducks arrive on the breeding grounds in early April to late May. Courting males cry out with high pitched whistles, and flash white irises by contracting the pupil. Drakes can be quarrelsome, and females commonly conceal themselves to escape aggressive, amorous suitors. While pairs of Ferruginous (Aythya Nyroca) normally nest in solitude, small colonies form at protected sites, sometimes adjacent to nesting gulls. Pair bonds dissolve during incubation, when drakes begin their molt on or near the breeding areas, but some males may accompany mates. A major percentage of young Ferruginous (Aythya Nyroca) are essentially independent prior to fledging.