Red-crested Pochard

The red-crested pochard is a large diving duck. The adult male is unmistakable, with a rounded orange head, a red bill and a black breast; the flanks are white, the back brown and the tail black. The female is mainly pale brown with a darker back and crown and a whitish face, and eclipse males are like females but keep red bills. The male gives a wheezing call and the female a series of hoarse vrah-vrah-vrah calls (Wikipedia, general species account).

It breeds on lowland marshes and lakes in southern Europe and from the Black Sea steppe and semi-desert to Central Asia and Mongolia, and winters in the Indian subcontinent and Africa. It feeds mainly by diving or dabbling on aquatic plants, and upends for food more than most diving ducks. Nests are built by the lakeside among vegetation, with eight to twelve pale green eggs. SoIB 2023 rates it a Low conservation priority: a winter migrant of wetlands with a Large range, a long-term decline of about 42% and a stable current trend (Wikipedia, general species account; SoIB 2023).