Madagascar Pochard
Aythya innotata
Extremely rare diving duck that was long thought extinct before being rediscovered in 2006 in a remote site in northern Madagascar. A large duck that is mostly rich brown, with white under the tail. Shows a conspicuous white wing stripe in flight. Males have a pale eye and females a dark one. Lives on freshwater lakes and wetlands. Dives frequently, like a grebe, but is much larger. Lacks the pale face of White-faced Whistling-Duck. Smaller than Meller’s Duck, with darker brown coloration and white under the tail.
Identification
The pochard is a medium-sized duck between 42 and 56 centimeters in size. Juvenile ducks have brown irises and are a pale, dull brown or chestnut color with a darker stomach. The adults are darker in color, though during a male duck's first winter, its iris will turn white. Breeding males have dark chestnut heads, chins, throats, breasts, and necks, with blackish brown on the top side of the body. Their wings are dark brown with a white bar. The area under the bodies from the stomach to the tail fades to white, as do the undersides of the wings. The beaks and legs are dark grey with black nails.<p>Vocalizations may include "[when] in display [...] the male utters a cat-like wee-oow and a rolling rrr, while the female gives a harsh squak."
Taxonomy
The Madagascar pochard was largely overlooked by scientists in the 19th century, as those that saw it assumed they were seeing ferruginous ducks instead. Even after its description in 1894 little notice was taken of the species, and even numbers are hard to gauge from early accounts of the species. Based on the accounts written by Webb and Delacour's in the 1920s and 1930s it seemed that the bird was still relatively common at Lake Alaotra.<p>The Madagascar pochard is generally thought to be closely related to the Hardhead, Baer's pochard and ferruginous duck. It is monotypic, having no described or known subspecies.
- Scientific name
- Aythya innotata
- Authority
- (Salvadori, 1894)
- Order
- Anseriformes
- Family
- Anatidae
- Genus
- Aythya
Range and habitat
The species exclusively lives in inland wetlands in Madagascar, where it is endemic. Currently, the only wild populations are at Lake Sofia and Lake Matsaborimena.<p>Historically, the birds preferred shallow lakes and marshes with dense vegetation; however, the rediscovered population was found in a cold, deep crater lake that had few aquatic plants and was surrounded by heavy forest, and other remote crater lakes may have been inhabitable due to the birds' requirements for shallower water. Its previous habitat in the Lake Alaotra basin was disturbed by rice cultivation and invasive introduced fishes.
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
Madagascar pochards do not migrate, do not usually form flocks, and are usually found in pairs or as single ducks.<p>The Madagascar pochard spends 38% of its day feeding. The diet is dominated by aquatic insects; a study examining their faeces found that caddisflies were the most commonly found insect, followed by dragonfly larvae, bugs (Hemiptera) and flies from the family Chironomidae. Stable isotope analysis and the faecal studies have shown that their diet includes very little plant material, which is unusual when compared to their relatives in the genus Aythya.<p>The bird dives for much of its food, with a mean diving time of around 24 seconds. Ducklings feed on the surface until they are old enough to dive, at around 14 days, and make shorter dives once they do dive (around 10 seconds).<p>Observers have noted nesting behavior from July to February, sometimes with multiple attempts at nesting. Nests are found 20–40 cm above water, in the plants along the lake or marsh edges (noted in Cyperaceae), with 6 to 10 eggs per clutch.
Conservation
- Population trend
- stable
Photos
Distribution
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