# Common pochard (*Aythya ferina*)

Canonical page: https://creaturedata.com/animals/common-pochard  
Data as of: 2026-11-11

The common pochard (Aythya ferina), also called pochard or northern pochard, is a waterfowl bird in the family Anatidae and the order Anseriformes. It is a small bird with an adult body mass of 823 g, up to 937 g, and a wingspan of 77 cm. The common pochard is an aquatic, sedentary herbivore of wetland habitats, with a geographic range of 16,610,000 km². It is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, an IUCN threatened category.

## Quick facts

| Fact | Value |
|---|---|
| Weight | 823 g – 937 g |
| Length | Not recorded |
| Wingspan | 77 cm |
| Lifespan | 22.7 years |
| Diet | Herbivore |
| Longest recorded lifespan | 23.2 years |
| Main food | Not recorded |
| Habitat | wetland |
| Egg incubation | 27 days |
| Young per litter or clutch | 8.8 |
| Age at maturity | 12 months |
| Litters or clutches a year | 1 |
| Lifestyle | Aquatic |
| Migration | Sedentary |
| Conservation status | Vulnerable (IUCN) |
| Countries on record | Not recorded |

## Classification

- kingdom: Animalia
- phylum: Chordata
- class: Aves
- order: Anseriformes
- family: Anatidae
- genus: Aythya
- species: *Aythya ferina* (Linnaeus, 1758)

Synonyms: *Anas erythrocephala*, *Anas ferina*, *Anas rufa*, *Aristonetta ferina*, *Aythya erythrocephala*, *Fuligula ferina*, *Netta ferina*, *Nyroca ferina*, *Nyroca ferina ferinoides*

## Common questions

### Is the common pochard endangered?

The common pochard is listed as Vulnerable (VU) on the IUCN Red List, which is an IUCN threatened category.

### How heavy is the common pochard?

An adult common pochard weighs 823 g, with values up to 937 g reported. Its wingspan is 77 cm.

### What does the common pochard eat?

The common pochard is a herbivore.

### What habitat does the common pochard live in?

The common pochard lives in wetland habitats and has an aquatic lifestyle.

### How many eggs does the common pochard lay?

The common pochard lays 8.8 eggs per clutch, with up to 8.9 reported, and has 1 clutch per year. Incubation lasts 27 days.

### How long does the common pochard live?

The common pochard has a lifespan of 22.71 years, with values up to 23.2 years reported.

### What kind of animal is the common pochard?

The common pochard is a waterfowl bird in the family Anatidae, order Anseriformes.

### Who named the common pochard?

The common pochard, Aythya ferina, was named by (Linnaeus, 1758).

## Sources

- [An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles](https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1), CC0 1.0, E096-269. Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1
- [AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds](https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7), CC BY 4.0, v7. Tobias, J.A. et al. (2022) AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds. Ecology Letters 25: 581–597. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13898. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7
- [Catalogue of Life eXtended Release](https://www.checklistbank.org/dataset/316691), CC BY 4.0, 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf
- [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org), per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed), 2026-11-11. Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence).
- [Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org), CC0 1.0, 2026-11-11. Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service).
- [Wikipedia (English)](https://en.wikipedia.org), CC BY-SA 4.0, 2026-11-11. Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).

Cite as: Common pochard (Aythya ferina). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/common-pochard