Appearance:
Male - The Male Southern Pochard has a black head, neck and breast with a purple iridescence, bright red eyes, pale blue-grey beak with black tip, chestnut coloured flanks, dark brown tail, dark brown upperparts, and legs and feet are blue-grey to blackish.
Female - The female has a reddish-brown head with dark crown, brown below the brown eyes and white throat and cheeks, brown underparts, white undertail, and dark brown upperparts.
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Size: - Typical Adult is about 51cm (20in).
Food: - Mainly aquatic plants, seeds, roots, sedges, leaves and also molluscs, aquatic insects and larvae.
Habitat/Range: - Wetlands, and shallow freshwater lakes. The South American Pochard has a fragmented range and is found from Colombia, Venezuela, Brazil, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia and Argentina to Chile. The African population extends from Ethiopia down to South Africa.
Breeding Habitat/Resident, 
Migration or Winter Area.Breeding Season: - March to August in north-east Africa, and August to December in South Africa.
Eggs: - 6-15 (creamy-white to brownish colour).
Notes: - The Southern Pochard is a diving duck. There are two sub-species of this duck, the South American Southern Pochard (Netta Erythrophthalma Erythrophthalma ), and the African Southern Pochard (Netta Erythrophthalma Brunnea ). This duck is more common and widespread in Africa than in South America. The Southern Pochard feeds by dabbling, up-ending or diving usually at night.
Conservation status (IUCN 3.1):
Least Concern.
Classification: - Family: Anatidae,
Subfamily: Aythyinae, Genus: Netta.
Southern Pochard video:
