Rosy-bellied pochard
The rosy-billed pochard breeds on lakes, lagoons and shallow reservoirs where there is thick vegetation in southern and central South America, from Bolivia and southern Brazil down to Tierra del Fuego, from sea level up to 1,200 metres.
It feeds mainly on aquatic plants and roots. It is often found on dry land, spending as much time there as on water. Rosy-bills are one of the commonest diving ducks in South America.
Natural habit
Southern Brazil, Uruguay, Paraguay, Chile and Argentina
- Distribution / Resident
- Breeding
- Wintering
- Subspecies
Risk level
- Extint
- Extint in the wild
- Critically endangered
- In Danger
- Vulnerable
- Near threatened
- Minor concern
- Insufficient data
- Not evaluated
Taxonomy
Physical characteristics
Biology
Reproduction
Discover how they are
Biology
The rosy-billed pochard is a robust South American duck with clear sexual dimorphism: males are easily recognised by the dark plumage on the head, neck, chest and back, a light-grey tone on the sides and red eyes and bill, with a large red knob at its base. Females are brown with a greyish bill. Both have black-tipped bills.
They inhabit lakes, swamps and freshwater marshes with abundant aquatic vegetation in the southern half of South America, from Paraguay and southern Brazil to central Chile and Argentina.
Herbivores, they eat grass, tender shoots, seeds and the soft bits of aquatic plants, which they can consume on the surface or just under the water level.
They make nests with leaves, grass and twigs on the shores of bodies of water where there is a cover of vegetation, frequently using the nests that other species have made.
Partially migratory, this species descends to lower latitudes during the coldest winter months.
This species is still common in many well-conserved wetlands of their area of distribution. It is not in danger, although at some points of its area of distribution and due to the lack of habitable areas due to the destruction and desiccation of wetlands, they are becoming increasingly scarce. It is hunted and poisoned in some points of Brazil and Argentina, especially in rice paddies.
