Recently, the white-eyed pochard was photographed in the Qilu Lake National Wetland Park in Tonghai county, Yunnan province. This is the first time white-eyed pochard has been seen in the park. 

The white-eyed pochard, also known as ferruginous duck or ferruginous pochard, is a medium-sized diving duck from Eurosiberia which stretches across all of Eurasia north of the foothills of the Himalayas, and North Africa. Now it is an international red endangered species due to the widespread destruction of wetland through most of its range.

White-eyed pochard is rusty brown overall with contrasting white triangular patch under tail. The male has a yellow eye and the females have a dark eye. In flight, both sexes show bold white wing stripe. White-eyed pochardt prefers quite shallow fresh water-bodies with rich submerged and floating vegetation and is predominantly a vegetarian, eating mainly seeds and aquatic plants. Sometimes, like most ducks, it also supplement its diet with invertebrates, insects and their larvae. It is shy and often stays hidden in reeds, except during the breeding season, when the male makes a barely audible sound “chuk-chuk” and the female gurgles “gaa”.

According to one staff of the Qilu Lake National Wetland Park , rare lapwing has also been found in the park earlier, which means that the ecological environment of Qilu Lake is getting better these years and satisfies some wild birds’ high habitat requirements. 

Click here to view Chinese report

(Editors: Alison, Rachel)