Description:

A small compad sea duck with slightly tufted square head and tiny dark bill. In flight, shows dark upperwing with white wing-covert patch. Male is mainly white, with black face, crest-stripe, breast stripes and back. Flanks are grey. Female, and eclipse male, have chestnut cap and white cheeks, and mainly dark grey body.

Distribution:

Rare 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 3500m, avoiding turbulent waters.

Behavior:

Feeds mostly by diving from surface, scanning for food first with head immersed. In winter forms large dense flocks. Diet consists of aquatic invertebrates, mainly insects and their larvae, amphibians and some plant material (seeds, leaves and roots); also fish, mainly in winter and early spring.

Photo Gallery:

Range & Occurrence:

Resident Species

Summer Breeder

Winter Visitor

Passage Migrant

Distribution Map of Smew in Gilgit-Baltistan (Status: )

Seasonal Occurrence of Smew

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.