top of page
Birds and Butterflies of Rhodes
RODOPTERA
Aythya nyroca
Ferruginous duck (male). Greek: βαλτόπαπια (αρσενική). Gadouras reservoir, September 2022.
Passage migrant, uncommon. Length 40-45 cm, wingspan 63-68 cm. Sexes similar. Rich rusty brown overall with triangular white patch under tail, white belly, male with pale eye, female darker brown with dark eye. Both sexes show broad white wing stripe in flight. Reservoirs, coastal lagoons, river mouths with reed beds. Shy, hides in reeds, keeps distance from shore in open water, where often flocks with tufted duck and common pochard. Feeds by diving and dabbling, often at night, takes aquatic plants, molluscs, small fish, insects. Runs on water surface to take off.
bottom of page