Aythya nyroca
Silhouette: Andy Wilson · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~40% in a week ~70%
The ferruginous duck (Aythya nyroca), also known as the ferruginous pochard, common white-eye or white-eyed pochard, is a medium-sized diving duck native to the Palearctic. The scientific name is derived from the Ancient Greek word, αἴθυιᾰ (aithuia), an unknown seabird mentioned by authors including Hesychius and Aristotle, and the Russian word, нырок (nyrok), the Russian word for pochard, which occurs in the bird's Russian common name.
The breeding male is a rich, dark chestnut on the head, breast and flanks with contrasting pure white undertail coverts. In flight the white belly and underwing patch are visible. The females are duller and browner than the males. The male has a yellow eye and the females have a dark eye.
The ferruginous duck prefers quite shallow fresh waterbodies with rich submerged and floating vegetation with dense stands of emergent vegetation on the margins. In some areas it will use saline or brackish pools or wetlands. On passage and wintering will also frequent coastal waters, inland seas and large, open lagoons.
The breeding range of the ferruginous duck is from Iberia and the Maghreb east to western Mongolia... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hortobágy National Park | 🇭🇺 Hungary | |
| 2 | Kiskunság National Park | 🇭🇺 Hungary | |
| 3 | Keoladeo National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 4 | Kaziranga National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 5 | Fertő-Hanság National Park | 🇭🇺 Hungary | |
| 6 | Monfragüe National Park | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 7 | Doñana National Park | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 8 | Jim Corbett National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 9 | Wadden Sea National Park | 🇩🇪 Germany |
Possible
About 20% of wildlife watchers report a Ferruginous Duck sighting in Abu Dhabi on a given day, based on 170 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 33rd most-seen of the 159 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 40%, and over a week to about 70%, if each day is a fresh chance.
March and November
In those months about 30% of wildlife watchers report a Ferruginous Duck in Abu Dhabi on a given day, against under 5% in May, the lowest month.
Between 9 am and noon
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Ferruginous Duck sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Among the best
Of the 39 cities where we can rate Ferruginous Duck sightings, Abu Dhabi ranks 3rd at about 20%, level with the leaders once rounded. The best odds are in Luxor (Egypt, about 20%) and Jerusalem (Israel, about 20%).
Same family: Anatidae
The closest relatives of the Ferruginous Duck that you can see in Abu Dhabi (family Anatidae, Ducks, Geese, and Swans) are Egyptian Goose (about 30%) and Mallard (about 20%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Ferruginous Duck is recorded against all the birds logged in Abu Dhabi (170 verified sightings), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
