Moorente Upper Austria

The ferruginous duck (Aythya nyroca) reaches a body length of about 38 to 42 centimetres and is the smallest Central European diving duck of the genus Aythya. Drakes are uniformly deep chestnut-brown with a conspicuously white iris, a broad white wing bar visible in flight and clean white undertail coverts. Females are duller and warm brown with a dark eye. The species favours densely vegetated, shallow and silting freshwater wetlands with broad reed belts and floating-leaved vegetation, and avoids deep open lakes or fast-flowing rivers.

Within the DACH region the ferruginous duck is a very scarce breeder. In Germany it occurs only with a handful of breeding pairs each year, in Austria the most consistent occurrences are linked to the Lake Neusiedl area, and in Switzerland only isolated breeding records have been documented. Globally BirdLife International describes the population trend as declining, and the IUCN classifies the species as Near Threatened on its Red List.

From the common pochard the ferruginous duck differs by its smaller and more compact build, its uniformly dark body without a pale grey back and its clean white undertail coverts. From the tufted duck it is separated by the absence of a tuft and by its warm brown rather than black tones. In Germany the ferruginous duck is listed as critically endangered on the Red List of breeding birds. It is strictly protected under European law, is fully closed-season throughout the year and is not a quarry species.