Oxyura leucocephala

(Scopoli, 1769)

Vernacular names
English : White-headed duck
French : Érismature à tête blanche

Classification
Class : Aves
Order : Anseriformes
Family : Anatidae
Notes : No subspecies known.

Identification
Adults can reach a length of 48 cm for a weight of 900 g. Both sexes show dark brown plumage with very thin vermiculations and light belly. Male has white head with black cap and large bulbous blue bill. Female is darker with black bill.

Range and habitat
This species has a patchy repartition, from Spain and Mediterranean basin to central Asia, to North-west China, Mongolia and Kazakhstan. Lives in lakes, lagoons and marshes with aquatic vegetation, in arid areas.

Conservation
IUCN RED LIST : ENDANGERED
CITES : Not Listed
Status : The species has gone through widespread and steep declines because of habitat loss, poaching and hybridization with feral O. jamaicensis.
Ex-Situ Programs : None known

Observation

 

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