White-headed duck
Oxyura leucocephala (Scopoli, 1769)
The white-headed duck (Oxyura leucocephala) is a small waterfowl in the family Anatidae, order Anseriformes, class Aves. Adults weigh 661.1 g as a representative value, from 593 to 737 g, and have a wingspan of 66 cm, from 62 to 70 cm.
Quick facts about the white-headed duck
It is a sedentary, aquatic bird of wetland habitat, classed as an aquatic predator and an omnivore by trophic level. It lays 7 eggs per clutch, one clutch per year, with an incubation period of 25.5 days, and is listed as Endangered (EN) on the IUCN Red List.
- Weight
- 593 g – 737 gsrc for Weight
- Length
- 45 cmsrc for Length
- Wingspan
- 62 cm – 70 cmsrc for Wingspan
- Lifespan
- Not recorded
- Diet
- Aquatic predatorsrc for Diet
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- wetlandsrc for Habitat
- Egg incubation
- 25.5 dayssrc for Egg incubation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 6.3 – 7src 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
- Endangered (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
How big is the white-headed duck?
Photos of the white-headed duck
Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.
Where does the white-headed duck live?
Not recorded
What is the white-headed duck?
The white-headed duck (Oxyura leucocephala) is a small diving duck some 45 cm (18 in) long. The male has a white head with a black crown, a blue bill, and reddish-grey plumage. The female has a dark bill and rather duller colouring. Its breeding habitat is lakes with open water and dense vegetation at the margin. It dives under water and feeds on aquatic vegetation as well as some animal matter. It is more likely to swim away from a perceived threat than to fly. This duck is known from Spain, North Africa, Western Asia and Central Asia. Populations are declining, mostly due to loss of habitat and pollution, and the International Union for Conservation of Nature has rated the bird's status as "endangered".
From the Wikipedia article “White-headed duck” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=White-headed_duck&oldid=1384240587), 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 white-headed duck endangered?
The white-headed duck is listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List: it faces a very high risk of extinction in the wild.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Endangered species.
How is the white-headed duck classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classAves
- orderAnseriformes
- familyAnatidae
- genusOxyura
- SpeciesOxyura leucocephala (Scopoli, 1769)
Synonyms Anas leucocephala, Anas leucopcephala, Erismatura leucocephala
Other names and names in other languages (75)
- بط أبيض الوجهArabic
- بط ابيض الراسArabic
- Aneda de cabeza blancaAragonese
- balbasía tiestablancaAsturian
- GöydimdikAzerbaijani
- Аҡбаш өйрәкBashkir
- Тръноопашата патицаBulgarian
- Тръноопашата потапницаBulgarian
- Тънкоопашата потапницаBulgarian
- Piklost penn gwennBreton
- Ànec capblancCatalan
- malvasia capblancaCatalan
- kachnice bělohlaváCzech
- Hwyaid PenwynWelsh
- hwyaden benwenWelsh
- Hvidhovedet SkarveandDanish
- Hvidhovedet andDanish
- RuderenteGerman
- Wei?kopf-RuderenteGerman
- Weißkopf-RuderenteGerman
- WeißkopfruderenteGerman
- ΚεφαλούδιGreek
- Ευρωπαϊκό ΚεφαλούδιGreek
- (Ευρωπαϊκό) ΚεφαλούδιGreek
- Blubeka anasoEsperanto
- blankakapa anasoEsperanto
- MalvasíaSpanish
- Malvasía cabeciblancaSpanish
- stepi-händpartEstonian
- اردک سرسفیدPersian
- valkopääsorsaFinnish
- Høvuðhvít skarvsontFaroese
- erismature à tête blancheFrench
- Érismature à tête blancheFrench
- Lacha ceannbhánIrish
- Raboalzado de cabeza brancaGalician
- Thunnag chione-baneManx
- צחראש לבןHebrew
- čakoraCroatian
- kékcsőrű réceHungarian
- Բադ սպիտակագլուխArmenian
- EiröndIcelandic
- Gobbo rugginosoItalian
- カオジロオタテガモJapanese
- Ақбас үйрекKazakh
- baltagalvė stačiauodegėLithuanian
- Baltagalvė stačiauodegė antisLithuanian
- baltgalvas zilknābisLatvian
- белоглава паткаMacedonian
- Цагаантолгой ямаансүүлтMongolian
- witkopeendDutch
- hvithodeandNorwegian
- SterniczkaPolish
- sterniczka (zwyczajna)Polish
- Sterniczka białogłowaPolish
- چٹے سرے آلی بطخWestern Panjabi
- pato-rabo-alçadoPortuguese
- Pato-de-rabo-alçadoPortuguese
- pato-de-rabo-alçado-europeuPortuguese
- pato-rabo-alçado-europeuPortuguese
- SaucaRomanian
- Raţă cu cap albRomanian
- СавкаRussian
- Белоголовая савкаRussian
- GahperfiehtaNorthern Sami
- potápnica bielohlaváSlovak
- beloglavkaSlovenian
- rosa kryebardhëAlbanian
- Beloglava plavokljuna patkaSerbian
- kopparandSwedish
- dikkuyrukTurkish
- савка білоголоваUkrainian
- רודער-ענטלYiddish
- 白头硬尾鸭Chinese
- 白頭硬尾鴨Chinese
Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistTAXREFWikidataWoRMSIUCN Red List
Relatives of the white-headed duck
Other species in the same genus Oxyura.
Ruddy duck
Oxyura jamaicensis
Lake duck
Oxyura vittata
Blue-billed duck
Oxyura australis
Maccoa duck
Oxyura maccoa
Andean duck
Oxyura ferruginea
CompareWhite-headed duck vs Ruddy duckWhite-headed duck vs Lake duckWhite-headed duck vs Blue-billed duckWhite-headed duck vs Maccoa duck
Common questions
Each answer is written from the sourced facts on this page, and only where they hold the answer.
What kind of animal is the white-headed duck?
The white-headed duck is a bird, a waterfowl in the family Anatidae and the order Anseriformes.
How heavy is the white-headed duck?
Adults weigh 661.1 g as a representative value, with reported weights from 593 to 737 g.
What is the wingspan of the white-headed duck?
Its wingspan is 66 cm as a representative value, from 62 to 70 cm.
What does the white-headed duck eat?
It is classed as an aquatic predator, and its trophic level is omnivore.
Is the white-headed duck endangered?
Yes. It is listed as Endangered (EN) in the global IUCN Red List assessment, which is a threatened category.
How many eggs does the white-headed duck lay?
It lays 7 eggs per clutch and has 1 clutch per year, with an incubation period of 25.5 days.
Does the white-headed duck migrate?
No. It is a sedentary bird with an aquatic lifestyle in wetland habitat.
Who named the white-headed duck?
Its scientific name, Oxyura leucocephala, carries the authority (Scopoli, 1769).
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · 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 · 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 · 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 · 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 · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · 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).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). White-headed duck (Oxyura leucocephala). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/white-headed-duck
“White-headed duck (Oxyura leucocephala).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/white-headed-duck.
@misc{white_headed_duck_2026,
title = {White-headed duck (Oxyura leucocephala)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/white-headed-duck},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}