Family:
The ferruginous duck, also known as the ferruginous pochard or the white-eyed pochard, is a small, dainty diving duck with a peaked head shape and slender bill. The male has glossy chestnut brown upperparts with a darker back, a white belly, and white under the tail edged with black. There is a dark collar around the bae of the neck, the eyes are white, and the bill is grey with a paler band. The female is browner than the male, and she has dark eyes.
It is a shy duck and often stays hidden in reeds, although it can sometimes be spotted on open water in mixed flocks with tufted ducks and common pochards.
Ferruginous ducks are at risk of becoming and endangered species, mainly due to habitat loss because of drainage and pollution, and the introduction of non-native species to lakes and ponds. Large numbers are also shot on autumn passage and on wintering grounds.
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Ferruginous ducks eat mainly the seeds and roots of aquatic plants but will supplement its diet with worms, snails, crustaceans, insects, frogs, tadpoles, and small fish. It usually feeds at night by diving underwater but will also upend and dabble for food.
Ferruginous ducks breed in central and southern Europe, and parts of central Asia. It can be found on freshwater lakes, lagoons, marshes, and forest wetlands, as well as saline or brackish pools and wetlands.
It winters south of the equator in north Africa and southeast Asia on coastal waters, inland seas, and open lagoons.
