Animalia > Chordata > Aves > Anseriformes > Anatidae > Oxyura > Oxyura leucocephala

Oxyura leucocephala (White-headed Duck)

Synonyms: Anas leucocephala (homotypic)

Wikipedia Abstract

The white-headed duck (Oxyura leucocephala) is a small stiff-tailed duck some 45 cm (18 in) long. The male has a white head with black crown, a blue bill, and reddish-grey plumage. The female has a dark bill and rather duller colouring. Its breeding habitat is lakes with open water and dense vegetation at the margin. It dives under water and feeds on aquatic vegetation as well as some animal matter. It is more likely to swim away from a perceived threat than to fly. This duck is known from Spain, North Africa, western and central Asia. Populations are declining, mostly due to loss of habitat and hunting, and the International Union for Conservation of Nature has rated the bird's status as "endangered".
View Wikipedia Record: Oxyura leucocephala

Endangered Species

Status: Endangered
View IUCN Record: Oxyura leucocephala

EDGE Analysis

Uniqueness Scale: Similiar (0) 
2
 Unique (100)
Uniqueness & Vulnerability Scale: Similiar & Secure (0) 
49
 Unique & Vulnerable (100)
ED Score: 5.46109
EDGE Score: 3.94524
Learn more at EDGE of Existence programme

Attributes

Adult Weight [1]  1.755 lbs (796 g)
Birth Weight [2]  96 grams
Female Weight [4]  1.307 lbs (593 g)
Male Weight [4]  1.625 lbs (737 g)
Weight Dimorphism [4]  24.3 %
Diet [3]  Carnivore (Invertebrates), Granivore, Herbivore
Diet - Invertibrates [3]  10 %
Diet - Plants [3]  60 %
Diet - Seeds [3]  30 %
Forages - Water Surface [3]  20 %
Forages - Underwater [3]  80 %
Clutch Size [6]  6
Clutches / Year [4]  1
Fledging [1]  63 days
Incubation [5]  23 days
Snout to Vent Length [4]  18 inches (46 cm)
Wing Span [7]  26 inches (.66 m)

Ecoregions

Protected Areas

Important Bird Areas

Biodiversity Hotspots

Name Location Endemic Species Website
Caucasus Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Iran, Russia, Turkey No
Irano-Anatolian Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Iran, Iraq, Turkey, Turkmenistan No
Mediterranean Basin Algeria, Egypt, France, Greece, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Portugal, Spain, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey No
Mountains of Central Asia Afghanistan, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan No

Prey / Diet

Cyperus papyrus (papyrus)[7]
Hippuris vulgaris (common marestail)[7]
Melilotus sulcatus (Mediterranean sweetclover)[7]
Najas marina marina[7]
Nymphaea alba (European white waterlily)[7]

Prey / Diet Overlap

Competing SpeciesCommon Prey Count
Netta rufina (Red-crested Pochard)1

Consumers

Range Map

External References

Citations

Attributes / relations provided by
♦ 1Storchová, Lenka; Hořák, David (2018), Data from: Life-history characteristics of European birds, Dryad, Dataset, https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.n6k3n
♦ 2Terje Lislevand, Jordi Figuerola, and Tamás Székely. 2007. Avian body sizes in relation to fecundity, mating system, display behavior, and resource sharing. Ecology 88:1605
♦ 3Hamish Wilman, Jonathan Belmaker, Jennifer Simpson, Carolina de la Rosa, Marcelo M. Rivadeneira, and Walter Jetz. 2014. EltonTraits 1.0: Species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals. Ecology 95:2027
♦ 4Nathan P. Myhrvold, Elita Baldridge, Benjamin Chan, Dhileep Sivam, Daniel L. Freeman, and S. K. Morgan Ernest. 2015. An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96:3109
♦ 5ACTION PLAN FOR THE WHITE-HEADED DUCK (Oxyura leucocephala) IN EUROPE, Compiled by: A. GREEN, B. HUGHES (The Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust, U.K.)
♦ 6Jetz W, Sekercioglu CH, Böhning-Gaese K (2008) The Worldwide Variation in Avian Clutch Size across Species and Space PLoS Biol 6(12): e303. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.0060303
♦ 7del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A., Sargatal, J., Christie, D.A. & de Juana, E. (eds.). Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona.
♦ 8Gibson, D. I., Bray, R. A., & Harris, E. A. (Compilers) (2005). Host-Parasite Database of the Natural History Museum, London
Ecoregions provided by World Wide Fund For Nature (WWF). WildFinder: Online database of species distributions, ver. 01.06 Wildfinder Database
Biodiversity Hotspots provided by Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund
Abstract provided by DBpedia licensed under a Creative Commons License
Species taxanomy provided by GBIF Secretariat (2022). GBIF Backbone Taxonomy. Checklist dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei accessed via GBIF.org on 2023-06-13; License: CC BY 4.0