Ferruginous duck

The ferruginous duck (Aythya nyroca) is a species of anseriform bird in the family Anatidae that lives in Europe, Africa and Asia. It is a small, slim, dark diving duck, measuring roughly 38 to 42 cm in length, with a wingspan of 60 to 67 cm and a weight of between 400 and 700 g.

It breeds in temperate parts of southern and eastern Europe and central Asia, as well as in subtropical areas of southern Asia and northern Africa. It prefers shallow freshwater bodies with plenty of submerged and floating vegetation, and dense stands of emergent vegetation along the margins.

It is an omnivorous species, although plant matter predominates: it feeds on seeds and aquatic plants, which it obtains by diving in water less than a metre deep, supplementing its diet with small invertebrates such as molluscs and insects.

The breeding season runs from May to June. The female builds the nest hidden in dense vegetation close to the water and lays 6 to 12 greenish-cream eggs, which she incubates alone for 25 to 27 days. The ducklings take 55 to 60 days to acquire their flight feathers.

The ferruginous duck is classed as a Near Threatened species worldwide, but in Spain its situation is far more critical: it is listed as "Critically Endangered" in the Red Book of the Birds of Spain and as "in danger of extinction" in the Spanish Catalogue of Threatened Species, mainly because of the drying-out and degradation of the lagoons where it lives.