About this species
The White-headed Duck (Oxyura leucocephala) is a globally threatened diving duck with a fragmented distribution across the western Palearctic and Central Asia. Within the Central Asian Flyway (CAF), it breeds in Kazakhstan and other parts of Central Asia, with migratory populations wintering in the Middle East, Türkiye, and southeastern Europe, while small resident populations occur elsewhere in its range. The species inhabits freshwater, brackish, and saline lakes with dense emergent vegetation for breeding, shifting to larger wetlands during winter. It feeds primarily on aquatic invertebrates, especially chironomid larvae, and seeds of aquatic plants, diving to forage beneath the water surface. Globally classified as Endangered, the species faces severe threats from wetland loss and degradation, drought, hunting, lead poisoning, drowning in fishing nets, competition with introduced fish, and hybridization with the introduced Ruddy Duck (Oxyura jamaicensis).
