Aythya farina

Or Pochard.

The Common Pochard is a gregarious, stocky diving duck, smaller than a Mallard, and forms large flocks in winter, often mixing with other diving ducks, such as the Tufted Duck, which they are known to hybridise with. The male is pale grey with a rusty red head and neck, a red eye, and a black breast and tail.

The female is brown with a dark head and blotchy cheeks.

In flight, birds show a pale grey wing-stripe

Their diet consists of plants, seeds, snails, small fish and insects.

They nest from early April, to early June, near to ponds with overgrown vegetation. It consists of a heap of aquatic vegetation and plant material, lined with down and some feathering.

The female lays 6-11, greenish coloured eggs, and she incubates them for 24-26 days beginning when the last egg is laid. The chicks leave the nest upon hatching and make their first flight at 50 to 55 days.

Male