Ferruginous Duck

Aythya nyroca (Güldenstädt, 1770)

≈36 cmLength65 cmWingspan574 gWeight

In the breeding season, the male has a deep chestnut head and breast, a pure white patch below the tail and white eyes.

Busiest months: December–March · Most records: India, Spain, China

Near Threatened

How to identify

Field marks

Male has a deep chestnut head, breast and body sides
Undertail-coverts pure white, strongly contrasting
Male has a white iris, female dark eyes
White belly and white underwing patch visible in flight

Male, female and young

Female duller and more rufous, with dark eyes.

Where and when it's recorded

Ferruginous Duck has been recorded at 1,131 of the 8,171 birding hotspots we track, in 82 countries and regions.

Records by month Northern Hemisphere

Where it's recorded most

Gazelle ValleyIsrael2,383 records
Al Jahra Reserve (Restricted access)Kuwait1,438 records
Bharatpur – Keoladeo Ghana NPIndia1,422 records

More places

Sultanpur National ParkIndia910 records
Schinias National ParkGreece760 records
Private estate near Green MubazzarahUnited Arab Emirates680 records
Charca de Suárez—MotrilSpain673 records
Gajoldoba Barrage JGIndia618 records
Maguri BeelIndia616 records
Eilat – KM19 Sewage Ponds 19Israel614 records

Countries and regions with the most records

India Spain China Israel Greece United Arab Emirates Kuwait Serbia

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 ferruginous duck (Aythya nyroca), also known as the ferruginous pochard, common white-eye or white-eyed pochard, is a medium-sized diving duck native to the Palearctic. The scientific name is derived from the Ancient Greek word, αἴθυιᾰ (aithuia), an unknown seabird mentioned by authors including Hesychius and Aristotle, and the Russian word, нырок (nyrok), the Russian word for pochard, which occurs in the bird's Russian common name.

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