Common Pochard

Common Pochard

Aythya ferina

Silhouette: Marie-Aimée ALLARD · PhyloPic

LCNTVUVulnerableENCR
Daily sighting probability ~10% · With luck
at Rotterdam [The Hague]

In 3 days ~20% in a week ~50%

124 Verified sightings at Rotterdam [The Hague]
4,874 In all 20 parks From 2019 to 2026
February Best month
☀️ Diurnal When it's spotted

About the Common Pochard

The common pochard (Aythya ferina), known simply as pochard in the United Kingdom, is a medium-sized diving duck in the family Anatidae. It is widespread across the Palearctic. It breeds primarily in Scandinavia and the steppe regions of Siberia, and winters farther south and west.

Swedish taxonomist Carl Linnaeus first assigned a scientific name to the common pochard in the tenth edition of his landmark treatise Systema Naturae; this was the first edition which included such names. He called the duck Anas ferina. In 1822, German zoologist Friedrich Boie created the genus Aythya for various diving ducks, and moved the common pochard to that new genus. Uptake of Aythya as the genus for the common pochard was mixed for much of the next century, with some authors leaving the duck in the genus Anas or assigning it to various other now-defunct genera instead. The common pochard is considered a superspecies with the canvasback. In the past, the redhead of North America was thought to be a subspecies, but the common pochard is now agreed to be monotypic, with no subspecies. It is known to have hybridised with tufted duck and ferruginous duck in captivity, and... Wikipedia →

Sounds

Call0:20

Italy · 2025

© Maurizio Sighele (maudoc) · XC993069 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Nocturnal flight call0:07

Denmark · 2023

© Jan Badura · XC790341 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Song1:27

Belgium · 2022

© Chèvremont Fabian · XC770645 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Global Distribution

Parks Where Found

# Park Country Daily sighting probability
1 Doñana National Park 🇪🇸 Spain
~40%
2 Hortobágy National Park 🇭🇺 Hungary
~40%
3 Kiskunság National Park 🇭🇺 Hungary
~30%
4 Fertő-Hanság National Park 🇭🇺 Hungary
~20%
5 Keoladeo National Park 🇮🇳 India
~20%
6 Wadden Sea National Park 🇩🇪 Germany
~20%
7 Biebrza National Park 🇵🇱 Poland
~10%
8 Bavarian Forest National Park 🇩🇪 Germany
~10%
9 Nikko National Park 🇯🇵 Japan
~10%
10 Kaziranga National Park 🇮🇳 India
~10%
11 Snowdonia National Park 🇬🇧 United Kingdom
~10%
12 Camargue 🇫🇷 France
<5%
13 Ranthambore National Park 🇮🇳 India
<5%
14 Chitwan National Park 🇳🇵 Nepal
<5%
15 Białowieża National Park 🇵🇱 Poland
<5%
16 Sierra Nevada National Park 🇪🇸 Spain
<5%
17 Satpura National Park 🇮🇳 India
<5%
18 Kanha National Park 🇮🇳 India
<5%
19 Monfragüe National Park 🇪🇸 Spain
<5%
20 Sierra de Guadarrama National Park 🇪🇸 Spain
<5%

Cities Where Found

# City Country Daily sighting probability
1 Fukuoka 🇯🇵 Japan
~50%
2 London 🇬🇧 United Kingdom
~30%
3 Jodhpur 🇮🇳 India
~30%
4 Hiroshima 🇯🇵 Japan
~30%
5 Nagoya 🇯🇵 Japan
~20%
6 Osaka 🇯🇵 Japan
~20%
7 Turin 🇮🇹 Italy
~20%
8 Bucharest 🇷🇴 Romania
~20%
9 Munich 🇩🇪 Germany
~20%
10 Brussels 🇧🇪 Belgium
~20%

Zoos & Centres Where Found

# Zoo / Centre Country
1 Disney's Animal Kingdom 🇺🇸 United States In captivity
2 Moscow Zoo 🇷🇺 Russia In captivity
3 Zoobotánico Jerez 🇪🇸 Spain In captivity
4 Parc ornithologique de Pont-de-Gau 🇫🇷 France In captivity
5 Slimbridge Wetland Centre 🇬🇧 United Kingdom In captivity
6 Yerevan Zoo 🇦🇲 Armenia In captivity
7 Saint Louis Zoo 🇺🇸 United States In captivity
8 Twycross Zoo 🇬🇧 United Kingdom In captivity
9 Centro Cicogne e Anatidi 🇮🇹 Italy In captivity
10 Cologne Zoological Garden 🇩🇪 Germany In captivity
11 Cleres Zoological Park 🇫🇷 France In captivity
12 Krasnodar Safari Park 🇷🇺 Russia In captivity
13 L'Oceanogràfic 🇪🇸 Spain In captivity
14 Zoo de Córdoba 🇪🇸 Spain In captivity
15 Alpenzoo Innsbruck 🇦🇹 Austria In captivity
16 NaturOparc (Centre de réintroduction des cigognes et des loutres) 🇫🇷 France In captivity
17 Tracy Aviary 🇺🇸 United States In captivity
18 Zoo Koki (Parque zoológico y botánico) 🇪🇸 Spain In captivity
19 Florida Aquarium 🇺🇸 United States In captivity
20 Texas State Aquarium 🇺🇸 United States In captivity
21 Cologne Zoo Aquarium 🇩🇪 Germany In captivity
22 Les Oiseaux du Marais Poitevin 🇫🇷 France In captivity
23 Ogród Zoologiczny w Katowicach 🇵🇱 Poland In captivity

Before you go

What are the chances of seeing a Common Pochard in Rotterdam [The Hague]?

With luck

About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Common Pochard sighting in Rotterdam [The Hague] on a given day, based on 124 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 53rd most-seen of the 175 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 50%, if each day is a fresh chance.

When is the best time to see a Common Pochard in Rotterdam [The Hague]?

August and November–June

In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Common Pochard in Rotterdam [The Hague] on a given day, against under 5% in July and September–October, the lowest months.

What time of day is best to see a Common Pochard?

Between 8 and 11 am

Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Common Pochard sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.

Is Rotterdam [The Hague] the best place to see a Common Pochard?

28th of 76

Of the 76 cities where we can rate Common Pochard sightings, Rotterdam [The Hague] ranks 28th at about 10%. The best odds are in Fukuoka (Japan, about 50%), London (United Kingdom, about 30%) and Jodhpur (India, about 30%).

Where does the Common Pochard sighting chance come from?

GBIF citizen-science records

It is estimated from how often the Common Pochard is recorded against all the birds logged in Rotterdam [The Hague] (124 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.

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