Red Crested Pochard of Britain
The Red Crested Pochard, Netta rufina, is a non-native species of duck in Britain who is about the size of a Mallard. Some escaped into the wild and began breeding. A breeding population of Red Crested Pochards is now established mostly in southern and eastern England. Their numbers in Britain have been increasing in recent years.
Adult males have an orange-brown head, with a red bill, grey back and pale flanks. Females are duller with brown plumage and pale cheeks.
(Image of Red Crested Pochards pair by David Stone: http://www.rarebirdalert.co.uk/RealData/gallery_show.asp?galleryid=57591 ).
Red Crested Pochards are sociable ducks who normally inhabit the deep waters of inland lakes, rivers, gravel pits, reservoirs and marshes. Those in Europe are also found to a lesser extent around estuaries and sheltered coasts.
Wintering Red Crested Pochards often form flocks with other ducks and waders. They are normally silent ducks although they sometimes make a distinctive “bak-bak-bak” call.
The diet of Red Crested Pochards is vegetarian. They dive for, dabble and up-end for the seeds, stems and roots of a range of aquatic plants. Aquatic invertebrates, amphibians and small fish are occasionally eaten.
Red Crested Pochards are not a native species of duck in Britain. There is only a small population of feral Red Crested Pochards which is distributed widely in Britain. They are the descendants of those escaped from private collections.
Breeding Red Crested Pochards are now established in a few sites such as Cotswold Water Park which borders Wiltshire and Gloucestershire.
Most British Red Crested Pochards are found in southern and eastern England. Resident birds are mainly sedentary and rarely leave their breeding areas.
Some wintering Red Crested Pochards are “blown in” to Britain from central Europe where they breed.
Large concentrations of wintering birds are found in southern Germany and Switzerland. Wintering Red Crested Pochards also fly to Spain.
The distribution of Red Crested Pochards in southern and central Europe is “patchy”. The bulk of the population is found in Spain with fewer in France, the Netherlands and Germany. Most Red Crested Pochards only move short distances from their nest sites during the winter.
“Eastern and southeastern European and Russian breeders winter in the area of the Black and Caspian Seas, while birds breeding in Turkey and Azerbaijan winter in Egypt and southwest Asia”
The core of the Red Crested Pochard breeding population in Britain is found among the lakes and gravel pits of Cotswold Water Park. There are an estimated 200 Red Crested Pochards living all year round in Cotswold Water Park. Their ancestors were birds who escaped from private collections.
Cotswold Water Park borders the English counties of Wiltshire. Gloucestershire and West Oxfordshire.
Red Crested Pochards have been reported at another 52 sites in Britain. The areas where Red Crested Pochards have been seen in double figures include Lower Windrush Valley Gravel Pits in Oxfordshire, Baston and Langtoft Gravel Pits in Lincolnshire and Hanningfield Reservoir in Essex.
There have been several sighting of Red Crested Pochards at Upper Lough Erne in Northern Ireland since 2006.
Pairs are monogamous and males are attentive by regularly bringing food to females during the breeding season. The breeding season is between mid-April and early June.
The male and female make their nest among dense vegetation which is near water. They make a hollow in the ground or on a floating reedbed which is lined with roots, twigs, leaves and feathers.
Six to fourteen eggs are laid which hatch after 3 or 4 weeks. Two or more females look after each other's nest. They often leave their own nest and incubate the eggs of another female.
The status of the Red Crested Pochard has not been assessed in Britain.
The population of Red Crested Pochards is spreading in Britain. Their numbers in Cotswold Water Park have doubled in the last four years according to the British Trust for Ornithology (https://www.bto.org/sites/default/files/u18/downloads/publications/wituk200708_5.pdf ).
The charity also said the winter population of Red Crested Pochards in Britain is estimated to be 570 birds.
The Red Crested Pochard is classified as of Least Concern by IUCN.
The population trend for the Red Crested Pochard in Europe is unknown according to Birdlife International.
The main threats to the Red Crested Pochard are loss of their wetland habitat, pollution and hunting in Spain, France and Portugal.
For more information on the birds of the gardens and countryside of Britain and Ireland, please visit,
Interesting Articles
EBCC – Distribution of Red Crested Pochards in Europe: http://s1.sovon.nl/ebcc/eoa/?species1=1960
Europa - https://ec.europa.eu/environment/nature/conservation/wildbirds/hunting/docs/red_crested.pdf
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