White Headed Duck (Oxyura leucocephala)
Family: Anatidae.
Length: 43 to 48cm Wingspan: 60 to 70cm.
1 brood a year, March to May. (Southern Spain)
The rare White-Headed Duck is known as one of the “Stiff-tailed ducks.” The other being the more common Ruddy Duck. To distinguish the two breeds apart, the male’s head has more white plumage coverage around and above the eyes towards the crown. Females and immatures have mostly black heads with speckles of white plumage. Both mature females and males, have a strikingly coloured, light blue bill, although the females bill, is slightly darker.
Oxyura leucocephala is now rare in Southern Spain, North Africa, Turkey, Western and Central Asia.
Numbers have declined rapidly and is now considered an endangered species; this is mainly due to habitation loss and hunting. Also, the more common Ruddy Duck introduced from America, interbreeds with the White-Headed Duck.
Habitat: Large freshwater lakes and ponds, with tall reeds growing around the edges. Always needing dense growth of aquatic plants to provide shelter for nesting and cover.
This duck dives from the surface and swims many metres under water, although omnivorous (the ability to eat and survive on both plant and animal matter) they do however rely heavily on vegetable matter, to feed on. They are reluctant to fly, preferring to swim for the nearest cover.
The White-headed Duck is one of the duck species to which the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA) applies. The International Union for Conservation of Nature has listed the status of this duck as “endangered”.