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Common Pochard Duck Using PECk-O-MATIC Automatic Duck Feeder



Common Pochard  Duck Using Automatic Duck Feeder

The Common Pochard is a mid-sized diving duck, one of three species of diving ducks in the genus, Aytha. They spend most of their time in the water diving for food because their short legs make walking difficult. For this reason, they prefer to swim away rather than fly off when encountering danger. It is a gregarious bird, and forms large flocks in winter. They are known to hybridize with the Tufted Ducks. The preening of the dorsal region is a major precopulatory display of this species.


The common pochard is a sexually dimorphic duck species. The males have a reddish brown head, red eyes, dark colored bill with a whitish band, a black breast and tail, with pale grey feathers on the back and wings. The females are duller and brown in color. She has a brown head with a paler face, dark-brown eyes, a dark bill with a narrow central band, a brown breast, and greyish body.


It is very crucial to keep rats and wild birds away from the duck feed to prevent the onset of diseases. The PECk-O-MATIC Automatic Duck Feeder discourages vermin onto the site. If feeding pellets, cracked corn or wheat the 5/8-inch regulator disc can be used. When feeding cracked corn or peas, it is recommended to use PECk-O-MATIC Automatic Duck Feeder's ½-inch regulator disc to feed these ducks.


Females have hoarse growls while the males have whistles cut off by a final nasal note aaoo-oo-haa. Marshes and lakes with a meter or more water depth is where they habituate. They are migratory, and spend winter in the southern and west of Europe. They feed mainly by diving or dabbling. Their diet consists of aquatic plants with some molluscs, aquatic insects and small fish. They build nests by piling vegetation into natural hollows in the ground. Females lay between eight to ten eggs.