Description:

A medium-sized diving duck with a long grey dished bill, sloping forehead and peaked crown. Male has chestnut head, black breast, and grey upperparts and flanks. Female has brownish head and breast contrasting with paler brownish-grey upperparts and flanks; lacks white undertail-coverts; eye is dark, and bill has grey central band.

Distribution:

Common passage migrant through major waterways and lakes all across Gilgit-Baltistan. Landing in the region during cloudy/harsh weather, at lakes, marshes, rivers and streams with fringe vegetation up to 4000m, avoiding turbulent waters.

Behavior:

Feeds by diving, upending or dabbling on surface, and also filters mud on shore, but some differences in techniques between males and females, with males apparently deeper divers. Eats seeds, roots and green parts of grasses, sedges and aquatic plants; also small invertebrates (aquatic insects and their larvae, molluscs, crustaceans, worms), amphibians and small fish.

Photo Gallery:

Range & Occurrence:

Resident Species

Summer Breeder

Winter Visitor

Passage Migrant

Distribution Map of Common Pochard in Gilgit-Baltistan (Status: )

Seasonal Occurrence of Common Pochard

Resources:

Birds of Pakistan: Helm Field Guides (R. Grimmett & T. Inskipp)
The Birds of Pakistan (T. J. Roberts)
Birds of the Indian Subcontinent (C. Inskipp, R. Grimmett & T. Inskipp)
Birds of South Asia: The Ripley Guide (P. Rasmussen & J. Anderton)
Birds of India: Collins Field Guide (N. Arlott)
Handbook of the Birds of India and Pakistan (S. Ali & S. D. Ripley)
Handbook of the Birds of the World (https://www.hbw.com)
The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World, 6th Edition
iNaturalist BoGB (inaturalist.org/projects/birds-of-gilgit-baltistan)
Birds of Gilgit-Baltistan (http://fb.me/birdsgb)

*Gallery images on this page are shared from flickr.com, and are copyrighted to their respective creators or owners.