Common Pochard

Aythya ferina (Linnaeus, 1758)

Common Pochard, Aythya ferina, is a duck of the Anatidae family that breeds across the western to central Palearctic and northern China, and moves to Africa and northern Oceania outside the breeding season. It is a diving duck with a range that reaches from western Europe through central Asia. The bird is also known as pochard in the United Kingdom. First named by Linnaeus in 1758, it is placed in the genus Aythya and is treated as a monotypic species.

Order

Anseriformes

Family

Anatidae — Ducks, Geese, Swans

Breeding range

Palearctic: w Europe to c Asia and n China

Nonbreeding range

AF and n OR