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Birds and Butterflies of Rhodes
RODOPTERA
Aythya ferina
Common pochard (male). Greek: γκισάρι (αρσενικό). Gadouras reservoir, September 2021.
Passage migrant, fairly common at reservoirs. Length 42-49 cm, wingspan 72-80 cm. Male light grey with chestnut head and neck, black chest and broad grey band on beak, female light brown with darker head and neck and narrower grey beak band. Reservoirs, coastal lagoons, river mouths with reed beds. Forages, mostly in twilight and at night, by diving and dabbling, takes aquatic plants, molluscs, crustaceans. Runs on water surface to take off. Red-listed as 'vulnerable' in Europe.
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