White-headed Duck

Oxyura leucocephala

Female White-headed Ducks
Photo courtesy of Clyde Robinson & Avian Empire

A fairly rare species, it is found in small breeding pockets scattered across the Palearctic and northern Africa.

The head of the breeding male is white with a dusky crown and a bright blue bill which is bulbous at the basal end. Hens have a white band below the eye across a dark head.

They feed in shallow waters.