white-headed duck

bird

Also known as: Oxyura leucocephala

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July 15, 2026

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The white-headed duck (Oxyura leucocephala) is a small, round duck belonging to the stifftail tribe within the family Anatidae. It is the only European stifftail species and is found in the Mediterranean region and Turkistan. The male is brown with a white face and a blue bill that is humped at the base. Females are more plainly colored. Stifftails are characterized by their short wings and long, spiky tail feathers, which they use for steering underwater while searching for food. They are not agile on land and prefer to sleep on the water.1

A significant conservation concern for the white-headed duck is hybridization with the North American ruddy duck (Oxyura jamaicensis), which has been introduced to Europe. This interbreeding threatens the genetic integrity of the rarer white-headed duck population.2

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conservation
Introduced species
…threatened by hybridization is the white-headed duck (Oxyura leucocephala; see stifftail). The European population of this species lives only in Spain, where habitat destruction and hunting once reduced it to just 22 birds. With protection, it recovered to about 800 individuals, but it is now threatened by a related species,…
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…threatened by hybridization is the white-headed duck (Oxyura leucocephala; see stifftail). The European population of this species lives only in Spain, where habitat destruction and hunting once reduced it to just 22 birds. With protection, it recovered to about 800 individuals, but it is now threatened by a related species,…
Read More

stifftail
…only European form is the white-headed duck (O. leucocephala), of the Mediterranean region to Turkistan; the drake is brown with an entirely white face, and his blue bill is humped at the base. Drakes of the maccoa duck (O. maccoa), of eastern Africa, and the Australian blue-billed duck (O. australis)…
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…only European form is the white-headed duck (O. leucocephala), of the Mediterranean region to Turkistan; the drake is brown with an entirely white face, and his blue bill is humped at the base. Drakes of the maccoa duck (O. maccoa), of eastern Africa, and the Australian blue-billed duck (O. australis)…
Read More