Let’s stay in Madagascar for another week and take a look at a little-known bird that almost went the way of the Elephant (bird): the Madagascan Pochard (Aythya innotata). Now, you may be wondering what a Pochard is, but it’s really just a fancy word for a duck.
On the surface they don’t seem all that remarkable. They’re a little brown duck, with striking bright eyes. Even when they were first discovered, no-one payed much attention, because people thought they were just a Ferruginous Duck. To be fair, they do look almost identical. See if you can tell them apart.
The giveaway probably should have been that the Ferruginous Duck lives nowhere near Madagascar.
Now, these are one of the rarest ducks in the world. During the 20th Century their population collapsed following the destruction of their habitat. In 1991 a single male was captured from the wild and then for the longest time no-one saw them again. Extensive searches were conducted in 1993, 1994 and 2001: all unsuccessful. It was thought these ducks were extinct.
But then in 2006 a small flock of 25 birds was found on a remote lake in the north of the island. Conservationists began removing the eggs to raise the chicks in captivity to ensure they would reach adulthood. This program has been largely successful. As of 2018 there are now over 100 ducks and they’ve been re-introduced to a second lake.
I should also note that the Pochard is a type of diving duck. When you think of a duck, you probably picture something that floats about on a pond, ducking its head (no pun intended) under the water while its bum stays in the air.
This behaviour is called dabbling and they are Dabbling Ducks. Their butts are actually too buoyant to dive underwater and they can only feed in the shallows. Ducks like the Pochard are less buoyant and hunt most of their food while scooting about totally submerged.
There is a surprising range of diversity among ducks. Not only are there Dabbling and Diving Ducks, but there are also Seaducks, Stiff-tailed Ducks and Shelducks. But they’re all birds for another week.
05/07/2020
Bird of the Week 