Migratory tufted pochard spotted in Jayakwadi

Aurangabad

The migratory ducks 'Tufted Pochard' were spotted at Jayakwadi on Sunday. Honorary wildlife warden Dr Kishor Pathak, Milind Girdhari, Dr Milind and Mansi Patwardhan were birding at Jayakwadi on Sunday when they spotted these ducks originally found in Europe and Central Asia. Earlier, these ducks were spotted here seven years back but only a pair. This year, there are around 30 in number.

Dr Pathak informed that tufted pochard males and females appear different. They are around 40 to 45 cm long. The male is glossy black with a prominent tuft and whitish along the wings. A female is a dusky brown with tuft, with yellow iris and faint whitish along the sides of the wings. This duck migrated to our area from Europe and Central Asia. They travel thousands of kilometers distance to this area in search of food due to the scarcity of food in the frozen lakes in their area. It eats mollusks, water insects, Crustaceans, seeds of water plants, and algae.