Red Crested Pochard

Description:

The Red-crested Pochard is a large diving duck. The adult male is unmistakable. It has a rounded orange head, red bill and black breast. The flanks are white, the back brown, and the tail black. The female is mainly a pale brown, with a darker back and crown and a whitish face. These are gregarious birds, forming large flocks in winter, often mixed with other diving ducks, such as other pochards. They feed mainly by diving or dabbling. They eat aquatic plants, and typically upend for food more than most diving ducks. Red-crested pochards build a nest by the lakeside among vegetation and lay 8-12 pale green eggs.

Habitat:

Its breeding habitat is lowland marshes and lakes in southern Europe and Central Asia, wintering in the Indian Subcontinent and Africa. It is somewhat migratory, and northern birds winter further south into north Africa. Found at a lagoon at the national park of Tablas de Daimiel, Ciudad Real, Spain

Notes:

spanish name: Pato colorado