The White-headed Duck is a species of freshwater diving duck that is found in western and central Asia. There are also populations that breed in Spain and northern Africa. These darling fowl are stiff-tailed ducks, sporting long and stiff tail feathers.
White-headed Ducks are omnivorous. They find food by diving under the water, often preferring vegetation to prey items (which may include insect larvae and small invertebrates).
The White-headed Duck has a conservation status of Endangered as of July 2013. They face population threats including habitat loss. Across the western part of their range they also face a huge threat from hybridization with non-native Ruddy Ducks.
From IUCN Red List: The White-headed Duck is listed as Endangered
on the IUCN Red List and was last assessed in 2012 by BirdLife International. Despite uncertainty about the possible large-scale inter-year movement of birds between wintering sites, mid-winter counts indicate that the population of this species has undergone a very rapid decline, which qualifies it as Endangered. The Spanish subpopulation has now stabilised, and it is projected that the global rate of decline will be lower in the next ten years (Green and Hughes 1996).
Our Bonanza rolls on! We're adding new birds each day until we reach our 500th Birdorable species! Today's Bonanza bird is the White-headed Duck.
White-headed Ducks are diving ducks. This means that they ... more
