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Psilos
Wildfowl Photography |
Red crested Pochard (Netta rufina) |
Larger than the European Pochard the
Red crested pochard looks like it should come from exotic climes. In
actual fact this bird originates from Spain with nearer but smaller
numbers in France, Netherlands and Germany. There are also small escaped
breeding populations to be found in southern and eastern UK. Their habitat
can be found on lakes and gravel pits with reed-fringed edges where
they live on a diet of stems, roots and seeds of aquatic vegetation. |
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Martinmere November 2005 |
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The photo above shows a juvenile male and
the photo below shows an adult male in eclipse plumage. |
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Photo below shows a pale form male in eclipse
plumage. |
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Adult female (above and preening below) |
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This species breeds very well at Martinmere
and most of the young are reared in the nursery where they are kept
safe from predation until they are old enough to be released into the
reserve. The duckling above is only a few days old whilst the ones below
are approximately two weeks old. |
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