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Scientific Name
Aythya nyroca
Arabic Name
البط الكستنائي
Kuwaiti name
بط
Family
Width
67.0 cm
Length
42.0 cm
Similar species
Information
Vagrant, mainly in winter. Usually seen in well-vegetated freshwater pools. The species has declined during the last 50 years but small populations breed in the Southern Marshes of Iraq, just beyond the Kuwait Border. Since Kuwait is biogeographically connected the the vast Mesopotamian Delta Ecoregion it is not unlikely that in the distant past the species used to survive and reproduce in the wider area. Today, artificial freshwater wetlands perhaps somehow compensate for large-scale drainage schemes and this rare species may be making a comeback!
Where in Kuwait
Generally recorded in winter months on inland pools in the Jahra area, but was proven breeding in 2013 at Jahra Pool Reserve.
In the world
Breeds in the same habitats as Common Pochard and is under threat due to drainage of wetlands in it's northern breeding grounds and indescriminate shooting on passage and wintering areas (Mediterranean, Africa).
Local threats
Shooting is a threat for ducks during passage migration. As a breeding bird this species requires special freshwater marsh habitats which means that special management measures are needed in specific Kuwaiti marshlands to assist reproduction here.