Ferruginous Duck Aythya nyroca

This was a nice unexpected find, the first I've come across in the wild without already knowing it was present. It may have been one of two males that had been seen at Welney earlier in the year. I found it on 15th but went back a few days later when I took these photos.

Ferruginous Duck (with Tufted Duck), Lynford gravel pits (Norfolk, UK), 21st February 2004

Steve Connor found this bird, an unexpected addition to my local parish bird list. What was very possibly the same bird had recently been seen at Pensthorpe, however that was not thought to have been one of Pensthorpe's own birds.

Ferruginous Duck, Guist Common (Norfolk, UK), 27th October 2023

The following morning it showed much better, and then flew towards me and landed in the nearest bit of water.

Ferruginous Duck, Guist Common (Norfolk, UK), 28th October 2023

The identification of Ferruginous Ducks is frequently a matter of some debate with some individuals seeming to look "not quite right" thus suggesting a possible hybrid origin. However sometimes when characters are quoted as being "wrong" for pure Ferruginous Duck, insufficient attention has been paid to the extent of variation within wild pure Ferruginous Duck populations. I found it really valuable to watch several Ferruginous Ducks, mostly females, in Sicily one spring.

Ferruginous Ducks, Granelli (Sicily, Italy), 28th April 2012

Ferruginous Ducks, Granelli (Sicily, Italy), 29th April 2012

Ferruginous Ducks, Granelli (Sicily, Italy), 1st May 2012

This one attracted some debate as to whether it was pure or not, but most people were content that it made the grade.

Ferruginous Duck, Titchwell (Norfolk, UK), 20th December 2016

Ferruginous Duck, Barton Broad (Norfolk, UK), 26th December 2009

Ferruginous Duck, Snettisham (Norfolk, UK), 5th December 2009

Ferruginous Duck, Holkham Park Lake (Norfolk, UK), 7th February 2016

This bird accompanied a Ferruginous Duck x Common Pochard hybrid and some observes considered that neither bird was pure. Personally I couldn't see anything wrong with it, especially after comparing it to the variation I observed among female Ferruginous Ducks in Sicily the following spring.

Ferruginous Duck (with Ferruginous Duck x Common Pochard, behind in 2 photos), Cockshoot Broad (Norfolk, UK), 12th November 2011

Several Ferruginous Ducks or Ferruginous Duck hybrids have been seen in the Broads in recent years and a few of the non-obvious hybrids have caused some observers to question their purity. This one may have been the same bird shown above when it was at Cockshoot Broad the previous winter.

Ferruginous Duck, Ranworth Broad (Norfolk, UK), 2nd December 2012

I arrived at Welney just after Matt Collis and Gareth Blockley had found this bird. Unfortunately it was only seen in poor light and none of us managed to see some characters that would be useful to rule out the possibility of it being a hybrid. However, we were satisfied that it was at least not a first-generation hybrid, and could see no reason to discount it from being a pure bird.

Ferruginous Duck, Welney (Norfolk, UK), 29th November 2014

This species is very common in captivity and many records of birds in the wild relate to escapees. The following birds were still behind bars.

captive Ferruginous Ducks, Martin Mere (Lancashire), UK), 26th December 2014

captive Ferruginous Ducks, Pensthorpe (Norfolk, UK), 9th March 2014

Captive Ferruginous Ducks often show characters that that may appear to be suggestive of a hybrid origin, but it seems that there is some variation among captive populations that is not down to hybridisation. So whilst some of the following were not wholly convincing I'm minded to call them all Ferruginous Ducks. Certainly they are not first generation hybrids but it is nevertheless possible that there are other species involved a few generations back.

captive Ferruginous Duck, Blakeney Quayside collection (Norfolk, UK), 14th March 2001

captive Ferruginous Ducks, Blakeney Quayside collection (Norfolk, UK), 7th November 2003

captive Ferruginous Duck(s?), Blakeney Quayside collection (Norfolk, UK), 28th February 2009

captive Ferruginous Duck, Blakeney Quayside collection (Norfolk, UK), 4th December 2010

captive Ferruginous Ducks, Blakeney Quayside collection (Norfolk, UK), 15th January 2022

captive Ferruginous Duck, Blakeney Quayside collection (Norfolk, UK), 13th February 2010

captive Ferruginous Duck, Blakeney Quayside collection (Norfolk, UK), 30th October 2015

captive Ferruginous Duck, Blakeney Quayside collection (Norfolk, UK), 23rd December 2015

captive Ferruginous Duck, Blakeney Quayside collection (Norfolk, UK), 3rd December 2016

captive Ferruginous Ducks, Blakeney Quayside collection (Norfolk, UK), 18th January 2017

captive Ferruginous Duck, Blakeney Quayside collection (Norfolk, UK), 24th September 2018

captive Ferruginous Duck, Blakeney Quayside collection (Norfolk, UK), 15th January 2022