Common Pochard

Aythya ferina (Linnaeus, 1758)

42–49 cmLength77 cmWingspan823 gWeight

The male has a maroon head, black breast and tail, and a gray body.

Busiest months: December–January and March–May · Most records: United Kingdom, Spain, Germany

Looks like Canvasback

Vulnerable

How to identify

Field marks

Male has a maroon head and neck
Male in the breeding season has a black breast and tail, and a gray body with vermiculations
Male has a dark gray bill with a broad blue-gray band across the middle
Plump and rounded, with a sloping forehead and rather long bill

Male, female and young

Female has a dark brown head and bill, a pale gray stripe behind the eye and a rufous-gray body; male outside the breeding season resembles female, but has a darker forebreast.

Voice

Male rarely calls, giving a soft whistle during courtship; female gives a soft “krrr” when flushed.

Similar species

Canvasback

Male Canvasback is very similar, but has an all-black bill.

Where and when it's recorded

Busiest months: December–January and March–May · Most records: United Kingdom, Spain, Germany

Common Pochard has been recorded at 1,846 of the 8,276 birding hotspots we track, in 97 countries and regions.

Records by month Northern Hemisphere

To protect this bird from disturbance, we don't list exact sites.

Countries and regions with the most records

United Kingdom Spain Germany India China Czechia Portugal Japan

eBird records via GBIF up to 2024-12-31. A record means someone listed it; more records partly mean more birders, not more birds.

About

The common pochard (Aythya ferina), known simply as pochard in the United Kingdom, is a medium-sized diving duck in the family Anatidae. It is widespread across the Palearctic. It breeds primarily in Scandinavia and the steppe regions of Siberia, and winters farther south and west.

Excerpt from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0 · authors · Read more on Wikipedia