Common Pochard

Physical Features The Common Pochard is a medium-sized colorful diving duck with a very distinct triangular head shape. The adult male has a long dark bill with a gray bill band, a red head and neck, a black breast, red eyes and a gray back. The adult female has a brown head and body and a narrower gray bill band. Juveniles are similar to females but their underparts are mottled. Common Pochards are superficially similar to the closely related North American Redhead and Canvasback. Habitat Common Pochards frequent wetlands, ponds, islands and inland shores. Their preferred breeding habitats are marshes and lakes with a meter or more water depth. Common Pochards breed in much of temperate and northern Europe into Asia. They are migratory birds that winter in the southern and west of Europe. In the British Isles they breed in eastern England and lowland Scotland, and are found in small numbers in Northern Ireland, with numbers increasing gradually. Large numbers overwinter in Great Britain, after retreating from Russia and Scandinavia. Diet Common Pochards feed mainly by diving or dabbling and can be often found feeding during the night. They eat aquatic plants with some molluscs, aquatic insects, small fish, invertebrates and amphibians. They also feed on seeds, roots, and green vegetation. Bag Limits The meat of the Common Pochard is red and fatty with a strong flavor and distinct fishy taste especially if it has been feeding on aquatic creatures. Meat Common Pochard meat resembles rare steak when sliced. It is succulent and has a delicate flavor that is more similar to steak than chicken. Behavior Common Pochards are gregarious birds, forming large flocks in winter, often mixed with other diving ducks, such as Tufted Duck, which they are known to hybridize with. They have a swift direct flight pattern with rapid wing beats and they usually fly in a V-formation. They build their nests in depressions in thick clump of grass that are well concealed by vegetation. The female lays six to twelve green to olive eggs, which she incubates for 25 days. Chicks leave the nest upon hatching and make their first flight at 50 to 55 days. Common Pochards utter a variety of whistles during courtship. Female produce a distinct 'squak' call. The various vocalizations produced include, 'mew-mew', whee-ough', 'keyair', 'rrrrrrrr'.

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