Red-crested pochards have an extensive but scattered range that includes parts of North Africa as well as Europe, the Middle East, Russia, India, and much of Asia. This species of duck seeks quiet waters such as inland lakes, slow-flowing rivers, and large lagoons with protective vegetation. While migrating or over-wintering, it also may roost and feed in estuaries, river deltas, and other sheltered coastal habitats. The red-crested pochard (Netta rufina) is a large diving duck. The scientific name is derived from Greek Netta “duck”, and Latin Rufina, “golden-red” (from Rufus, “ruddy”). Its breeding habitat is lowland marshes and lakes in southern Europe and it extends from the steppe and semi-desert areas on the Black Sea to Central Asia and Mongolia, wintering in the Indian Subcontinent and Africa. It is somewhat migratory, and northern birds winter further south into North Africa.
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. Eclipse males are like females but with red bills. They are gregarious birds, forming large flocks in winter, often mixed with other diving ducks, such as common 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 spend most of their time on the water or near the water’s edge. They may gather in small groups and are most active in the early morning and evening. This “large and bulky duck,” as it has been described, will dive, dabble, and up-end for food. Red-crested pochards feed mainly on the roots, seeds, and vegetative parts of aquatic plants, and sometimes supplement their diet with aquatic invertebrates, amphibians, molluscs, tadpoles, or small fish.
Red-crested pochards go through courtship and pair formation starting in the fall and winter. Mated pairs arrive on breeding grounds in the spring. Each pair seeks a quiet, secluded site for nesting, usually well away from other pairs. Pairs conceal their nests under a bush or in dense vegetation on shore or build them on floating mats of vegetation. They construct their nests of roots, twigs, and leaves.
This was photographed in Nagpur, Maharashtra, India.
These rare photographs have been clicked and contributed by K. Shiva Kumar, a professional Wildlife Storyteller (M.A in Journalism & Mass Communication, an alumnus of Central University Of Odisha, Koraput) from Hyderabad, Telangana.
