Red-crested Pochard
Netta rufina Pallas 1773
Branta rufina Pall.: Elwes, Buckley, 1870: 340; Fuligula rufina (Pall.): Reiser, 1894: 188.
Order Anseriformes
Family Anatidae
Conservation status: in Bulgaria: Extinct EX, BDA-III; International: BeC-III; BoC-II; ECS-Spec 3; BD-I.
General distribution. A Sarmatian species irregularly breeding in isolated places in Central and Southern Europe and Asia Minor. The area is more compact in the European part of Russia and Asia. It winters along the coasts of the Mediterranean, the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, in the Middle East and India. In Europe there is a tendency for an increase of the population.
Distribution and abundance in Bulgaria. Currently passage migrant and wintering species, in the past it was reported as a common breeding species for the Black Sea coast. It has been observed in small numbers in wetlands along the Danube River: Belene, Srebarna. It has also been found breeding in the lakes Shabla and Durankulak, in the Burgas lakes, etc. [1, 2]. Since the beginning and the middle of the 1990s, there has been no confirmed breeding of the species in Bulgaria. It is possible for singular pairs to be making attempts at breeding in separate years or at staying in the country, but since the 1990s there have been no data of nests or young birds found [3, 4] so far. In the winter it was found in largest numbers in Burgas Bay (700 in 1941) [5] and in Varna lake (320 individuals in 1984); after 1988 the winter numbers of the species in Bulgaria decreased considerably [6].
Habitats. Marshes and lakes with rich submerged vegetation and large reed reedbeds. During migrations and wintering along the Black Sea coast, where it prefers staying in isolated small bays.
Biology. It starts breeding in the second half of April. It most frequently incubates on the shore in high marshy vegetation. The nest is covered with down, it usually lays 8-10 eggs. It mainly feeds on vegetation: seeds, leaves, stalks and other parts of water and hydrophyte plants (mostly charophytic algae). It obtains its food under the water surface, by dipping the head, the bill or the front part of the body.
Similar species. Monotypical; there are no similar species.
Negative factors. Destruction and degradation of habitats; industrial fishing with nets; pollution of basins.
Conservation measures taken. A protected species since 1962. Included in the Red Data Book of Bulgaria (1985) as a rare species. Some of the major habitats along the Danube are declared protected territories: Orsoya Fishponds, Srebarna Lake, Kalimok and Belene Island; a restoration of the water regime is envisaged for the latter two wetland areas. The breeding habitats along the Black Sea coast, Yatata and Poda, are also protected. Plans have been drafted for the management of Poda and Srebarna; a national plan is to be prepared for the preservation of the species; plans for the management and restoration of wetlands – important former breeding habitats in the country. Possibilities are also being discussed for working out appropriate agro-ecological measures for fish farms with the aim of attracting the species to breed, as well as a programme for breeding in closed space, aimed at restoring the species in wild nature.
References. 1. Ivanov, 1985; 2. Nankinov et al., 1997; 3. BSPB, in press. 4. Petkov, in press; 5. Kumerloeve, 1957; 6. Michev, Profirov, 2003.
Author: Nikolai Petkov
