CreatureData

Hardhead

Aythya australis (Eyton, 1838)

LCLeast Concernwaterfowl

The hardhead (Aythya australis) is a species in the family Anatidae, order Anseriformes. Recorded adults weigh 838 g to 902 g. Source checklists list it for 1 country: Australia. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.

Hardhead (Aythya australis)
Photo: JJ Harrison ( https://tiny.jjharrison.com.au/t/9wKHtQKaHjhZUCc1 ) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Quick facts about the hardhead

Weight
838 g – 902 gsrc for Weight
Length
Not recorded
Wingspan
65 cm – 70 cmsrc for Wingspan
Lifespan
Not recorded
Diet
Aquatic predatorsrc for Diet
Main food
Not recorded
Habitat
wetlandsrc for Habitat
Egg incubation
25 dayssrc for Egg incubation
Young per litter or clutch
11src for Young per litter or clutch
Litters or clutches a year
1src for Litters or clutches a year
Lifestyle
Aquaticsrc for Lifestyle
Migration
Sedentarysrc for Migration
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
Countries on record
1 countrysrc for Countries on record

How big is the hardhead?

HARDHEAD · WINGSPAN 70 CMADULT HUMAN · HEIGHT 1.7 M
At 70 cm, the recorded maximum wingspan of the hardhead is about 41% of the height of an adult human (1.7 m, a fixed reference used for scale).

Photos of the hardhead

Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.

Hardhead (Aythya australis)
JJ Harrison ( https://tiny.jjharrison.com.au/t/VcHWJIMlVY6vk6hU ) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Where does the hardhead live?

Countries where Catalogue of Life checklists list the species. Many checklists carry no country data, so the list is often incomplete. It is not a range map.

The hardhead is listed for 1 country.

Australia
  • Listed
  • Not listed
small islands are not drawn at this scale

The same countries as a list

  1. Australia

Why a country list is not a range map

Listed by: ITIS (scope: global), through the Catalogue of Life.

What is the hardhead?

Quoted from WikipediaCC BY-SA 4.0

The hardhead (Aythya australis), also known as the white-eyed duck, is the only true diving duck found in Australia. The common name "hardhead" has nothing to do with the density of the bird's skull, instead referring to the difficulty encountered by early taxidermists in processing the head. Hardheads are found in wetter, coastal regions of Australia, particularly in the south-east, but are known to disperse as far afield as New Guinea, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands.

From the Wikipedia article “Hardhead” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Hardhead&oldid=1361798994), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.

Is the hardhead endangered?

The hardhead is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.

  1. LCLeast Concern
  2. NTNear Threatened
  3. VUVulnerable
  4. ENEndangered
  5. CRCritically Endangered
  6. EWExtinct in the Wild
  7. EXExtinct

Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species. What the categories mean.

How is the hardhead classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumChordata
  3. classAves
  4. orderAnseriformes
  5. familyAnatidae
  6. genusAythya
  7. SpeciesAythya australis (Eyton, 1838)

Synonyms Anas elapsa, Aythya australis australis, Aythya australis extima, Aythya reclusa, Nettion elapsum, Nyroca australis, Nyroca australis lebeboeri, Nyroca nyroca dampieri, Nyroca reclusa, Nyroca reperta

Other names and names in other languages (46)
  • Australian white-eyeEnglish
  • Australian white-eyed duckEnglish
  • White-eyed duckEnglish
  • White-eyed duckEnglish
  • بط صلب الرأسArabic
  • بط أبيض العينArabic
  • Morilhon AostraliaBreton
  • morell australiàCatalan
  • polák hnědavýCzech
  • polák australskýCzech
  • hwyaden lygadwen AwstraliaWelsh
  • Australsk TaffelandDanish
  • TasmanmoorenteGerman
  • Australische MoorenteGerman
  • Tasman-MoorenteGerman
  • aŭstralia merganasoEsperanto
  • Porrón australianoSpanish
  • austraalia vartEstonian
  • سرسختPersian
  • australiansotkaFinnish
  • Fuligule australFrench
  • TvrdoglavkaCroatian
  • australska patkaCroatian
  • ausztrál cigányréceHungarian
  • Kambangan coklatIndonesian
  • Itik Mata-PutihIndonesian
  • Kambangan AustraliaIndonesian
  • Moretta australianaItalian
  • オーストラリアメジロガモJapanese
  • australinė šalminė antisLithuanian
  • KarakahiaMāori
  • Nahatʼeʼiitsoh Bikéyahdę́ę́ʼ naalʼeełí binááʼ łigaaígííNavajo
  • Australische witoogeendDutch
  • AustraldukkandNorwegian Nynorsk
  • australdykkandNorwegian
  • podgorzałka australijskaPolish
  • zarro-australianoPortuguese
  • Австралийский нырокRussian
  • chochlačka hnedastáSlovak
  • Australijska patka njorkaSerbian
  • australisk dykandSwedish
  • Avustralya PatkasıTurkish
  • чернь австралійськаUkrainian
  • Vịt đầu cứngVietnamese
  • 澳洲潛鴨Chinese
  • 澳洲潜鸭Chinese

Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistTAXREFWikidataWoRMSIUCN Red List

Relatives of the hardhead

Other species in the same genus Aythya.

CompareHardhead vs Tufted duckHardhead vs Common pochardHardhead vs Ferruginous duckHardhead vs Greater scaup

Common questions

Answered only where our data holds the answer.

How big is the hardhead?

An adult hardhead weighs 838 g – 902 g and has a wingspan of 65 cm – 70 cm, according to values recorded on Wikidata.

Where does the hardhead live?

Catalogue of Life checklists list the hardhead for 1 country: Australia. Checklist coverage is uneven, so the true range may be wider.

Is the hardhead endangered?

The hardhead is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, meaning it is not currently at risk of extinction.

What kind of animal is the hardhead?

The hardhead (Aythya australis) belongs to the family Anatidae in the order Anseriformes.

Sources and how to cite this page

Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.

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APA

CreatureData. (2026). Hardhead (Aythya australis). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/aythya-australis

MLA

“Hardhead (Aythya australis).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/aythya-australis.

BibTeX
@misc{aythya_australis_2026,
  title = {Hardhead (Aythya australis)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/aythya-australis},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}