# White-headed duck (*Oxyura leucocephala*)

Canonical page: https://creaturedata.com/animals/white-headed-duck  
Data as of: 2026-11-11

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. 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.

## Quick facts

| Fact | Value |
|---|---|
| Weight | 593 g – 737 g |
| Length | 45 cm |
| Wingspan | 62 cm – 70 cm |
| Lifespan | Not recorded |
| Diet | Aquatic predator |
| Main food | Not recorded |
| Habitat | wetland |
| Egg incubation | 25.5 days |
| Young per litter or clutch | 6.3 – 7 |
| Litters or clutches a year | 1 |
| Lifestyle | Aquatic |
| Migration | Sedentary |
| Conservation status | Endangered (IUCN) |
| Countries on record | Not recorded |

## Classification

- kingdom: Animalia
- phylum: Chordata
- class: Aves
- order: Anseriformes
- family: Anatidae
- genus: Oxyura
- species: *Oxyura leucocephala* (Scopoli, 1769)

Synonyms: *Anas leucocephala*, *Anas leucopcephala*, *Erismatura leucocephala*

## Common questions

### 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

- [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: White-headed duck (Oxyura leucocephala). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/white-headed-duck