Rosybill Pochard

ANIMAL:
Rosybill Pochard Netta peposaca

Type of Animal:
Duck

Habitat:
Wetlands, swamps, marshes, freshwater lakes, large ponds, shallow water w/ abundant floating vegetation

Location(s):
Ranges from S Brazil/S Bolivia to Tierra Del Fuego. Vagrant in Falkland Islands.

Appearance:
Males have purplish-black head/neck/breast w/ gray sides, white cloacal area, bright red rosy bill w/ large rounded knob fading w/ pink toward front & black tip, red eyes, yellow to orange legs/feet. Females dull/brown w/ bluish-gray black-tipped bill & yellow-orange to gray legs/feet, white cloacal area, juveniles look like females but have darker bellies

Food/Diet:
Seeds, grasses, sedges, roots, aquatic plants, aquatic leaves, vegetables, insect larvae/pupae, snails, crabs, small fish

Status in Wild:
Stable

Conservation:
Breeding in zoos, aviculture, & wildlife centers

Lifestyle:
Flocks of 30-2,000 birds

Additional Info:

Called:
Male: Drake
Female: Hen
Young: Duckling
Group: Flock
 
Weight:
Male: 2.6 lbs
Female: 2.2 lbs
 
Gestation:
1 month 

Life Span:
5-10 years in wild, 15-20 years in captivity

Height:
Male: 1.83 ft
Female: 1.75 ft

Body Length:
Male: 1.83 ft
Female: 1.75 ft

Main predators are crocodilians, snakes, raptors, & predatory mammals.
 
Have 2.5 ft wingspan.
 
They’re often migratory, especially S populations.
 
Feed by dabbling on water surface, upending in shallow water. Also graze on land.
 
Courtship displays involve exaggerated drinking/mock preening/head bobbing/neck extending.
 
Females lay 8-14 eggs per clutch & often lay eggs in other bird’s nests if available, including those of other females. Broods of different females sometimes merge w/ females raising ducklings collectively. Males sometimes play parental role but often abandon females after mating.
 
Nests often parasitized by Black-Headed Ducks, meaning female Rosybills often raise Black-Headed ducklings as well as own ducklings.
 
Ducklings leave mom at 3 months old & become sexually mature at 10 months old.
 
Nests often built over water at water’s edge.
 
Usually breed in October & November.

Fun Fact(s):
Sometimes hybridize w/ other pochard species in captivity.
 
They can be quite tame.
 
In areas where hunted, they’re prone to swallowing lead bullets due to mistaking them for stones required for mechanical breakdown of food within gizzard.
 
Commonly used by people for consumption, pets, display animals, & in horticulture.
 
Sometimes persecuted due to being pests in rice fields.
 
Scientific name means “showy-winged duck.”
Rosybill Pochards, 3 males, stock photo

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