About this species
The Common Pochard (Aythya ferina) is a medium-sized migratory diving duck that breeds across temperate Europe and Central Asia and winters in Africa and southern Asia. Within the Central Asian Flyway (CAF), it breeds across Kazakhstan, southern Siberia, and northern China, migrating south to winter in the Indian subcontinent and other parts of South and Southeast Asia. The species inhabits well-vegetated lakes, marshes, reservoirs, and slow-flowing rivers during breeding, and larger freshwater wetlands, coastal lagoons, estuaries, and reservoirs in winter. It feeds primarily on aquatic plants, seeds, roots, and tubers, supplemented by molluscs, crustaceans, aquatic insects, and other invertebrates, foraging mainly by diving. Globally classified as Vulnerable, the Common Pochard is experiencing population declines due to wetland degradation, eutrophication, habitat loss, hunting pressure, and human disturbance across its range. The Common Pochard has traditionally been valued as a game bird across parts of Europe and Central Asia and is a familiar winter visitor to many culturally important wetlands in the Central Asian Flyway.
