Common Pochard

Aythya ferinaOrder: ANSERIFORMES Family: Geese and Ducks (Anatidae)

Codes: Common Name: CPOC Scientific Name: AYTFER ITIS Taxonomic No.: 175126

Common Pochard: The male Common Pochard has a chestnut head and neck, red eye, pale gray body, black rump and black bill with a broad blue gray band across upper mandible.

Related Birds

Canvasback
Redhead

Birdman Mel's Backyard Tips

Overview

Common Pochard: Medium-sized, colorful diving duck from Eurasia with a rich red-brown head, black breast and tail, and gray body. Dark bill has a pale gray saddle; eyes are red. Feeds on aquatic plants, dives often, sometimes dabbles. Swift direct flight on rapid wing beats. Flies in a V formation.

Range and Habitat

Common Pochard: Rare visitor to the Aleutian and Pribilof Islands, very rare in rest of Alaska and one record for southern California.

Topo Map: Duck-like Body

Listen to Call

Voice Text

"mew-mew", whee-ough", "keyair", "rrrrrrrr", "squak"

Interesting Facts

The Common Pochard is a gregarious bird, and forms large flocks in winter, often mixed with other diving ducks, such as the Tufted Duck, which they are known to hybridise with.

A group of ducks has many collective nouns, including a "brace", "flush", "paddling", "raft", and "team" of ducks.

Bird Term Glossary

Author

David Lukas

Artist

Samira Belous

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Bird Call Credits: The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Martyn Stewart, http://www.naturesound.org, Redmond, Washington USA. The reuse or copying of bird calls in this database is strictly forbidden.

Common Pochard

● Song: "mew-mew", whee-ough", "keyair", "rrrrrrrr", "squak"

● Foraging & Feeding: Common Pochard: Feeds by diving and dabbling for seeds, roots, and green vegetation. May also eat some invertebrates, amphibians, and fish.

● Breeding & nesting: Common Pochard: Nest built in depression in thick clump of grass that is well concealed by vegetation. Female incubates six to twelve green to olive eggs for 25 days. Chicks leave the nest upon hatching and make their first flight at 50 to 55 days.

● Similar species: Common Pochard: Redhead has darker gray plumage, pale bill lacks blue band and black at base and tip. Canvasback is larger and has a sloping profile with all black bill.

Flight Pattern

Strong direct flight.

● Range & Habitat: Common Pochard: Rare visitor to the Aleutian and Pribilof Islands, very rare in rest of Alaska and one record for southern California.

^BreedingSolitary nester, Loose colonies

^PopulationAbundant on grounds

^MigrationSome migrate

^Weight28.8 Ounces

Duck-like Body

Breast

The upper front part of a bird.

4 and 6 letter alpha codes

The four letter common name alpha code is is derived from the first two letters of the common first name and the first two letters of common last name. The six letter species name alpha code is derived from the first three letters of the scientific name (genus) and the first three letters of the scientific name (species). See (1) below for the rules used to create the codes..

Four-letter (for English common names) and six-letter (for scientific names) species alpha codes were developed by Pyle and DeSante (2003, North American Bird-Bander 28:64-79) to reflect A.O.U. taxonomy and nomenclature (A.O.U. 1998) as modified by Supplements 42 (Auk 117:847-858, 2000) and 43 (Auk 119:897-906, 2002). The list has been updated by Pyle and DeSante to reflect changes reported by the A.O.U from 2003 through 2006.

Field Guide to Birds of North America

Common Pochard

Related Birds

Birdman Mel's Backyard Tips

Overview

Range and Habitat

Topo Map: Duck-like Body

Listen to Call

Voice Text

Interesting Facts

Bird Term Glossary

Author

Artist

Common Pochard

Flight Pattern