Red-crested Pochards Bred at a Newly Documented Site in Southeastern Türkiye

January 21, 2026

Red-crested pochard pair swimming with ducklings

Research · Reproduction & development

A 2026 preprint documented breeding red-crested pochards (Netta rufina) at a newly identified site near the Devegeçidi Dam in Diyarbakır, Turkey Province, southeastern Türkiye. Observations were made from March to July 2025 at four shallow freshwater ponds within the dam area.

The ponds were generally less than one metre deep and contained abundant submerged and floating aquatic plants, with reed beds around the breeding area. The birds arrived at the site toward the end of March, and breeding activity continued until the end of July. The highest count was nine red-crested pochards, including five ducklings. This was the largest number seen during the observations, not an estimate of the breeding population around the dam.

The authors describe the locality as a new breeding site for the species and highlight the role of small, shallow ponds with rich aquatic vegetation in supporting the birds there. They also recommend a broader ornithological assessment to establish the size of the breeding population in the surrounding wetlands.

Sources and image credit

Aktaş, R., & Karakaş, R. (2026). Observations on the breeding ecology of Red-Crested Pochard Netta rufina (Pallas, 1773) from the new breeding range from Türkiye [Preprint]. Authorea. https://doi.org/10.22541/au.176902579.93217284/v1Primary preprint posted 21 January 2026. Observations from March to July 2025 documented breeding at four shallow freshwater ponds near Devegeçidi Dam in Diyarbakır Province.

Image: Stephan Sprinz / Wikimedia Commons — red-crested pochards (Netta rufina) with ducklings in Wagbachniederung nature reserve, Germany, on 30 May 2019. Illustrative photograph, not from the Turkish study. · https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ · Source