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PLATE 5: DIVING DUCKS, GUINEAFOWL AND BUTTONQUAIL
Red-crested Pochard Netta rufina wv
L: 56. Large diving duck which sits high on the water. Male unmistakable with large dark orange
head and red bill; in eclipse resembles female but bill is red. Female has pale grey cheeks
contrasting with dark crown; dark bill has pink band near tip. In flight shows broad white wing-bar.
Voice Male has a double weep-weep; female a grating keerr. Habitat Freshwater lakes, estuaries.
Note Winter hatched, uncommon Oman; vagrant Bahrain, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, UAE.Common Pochard Aythya ferina WV
L: 45. W: 80. Sloping forehead grading into long bill is characteristic. Male has chestnut head
and neck, contrasting with black breast; black bill has pale blue-grey band in centre. In eclipse
resembles female but greyer above. Female has dull brownish head and breast with paler chin
and eye-stripe; dark bill becomes paler towards broad black tip. In flight looks longer and plumper
than Tufted Duck; greyish-brown wings (paler in male) have indistinct pale grey wing-bar.
Voice Courting male has low whistle; also hoarse wheezing note; female has rough harsh krra-krra.
Habitat Well-vegetated wetlands. Note Passage and winter hatched.Ferruginous Duck Aythya nyroca wv
L: 40. W: 66. Slightly smaller than Tufted Duck, head shape close to Common Pochard. Compared
to Tufted Duck has higher crown, flatter sloping forehead and longer, dark grey bill with black
nail only. Male rich chestnut-brown with white eye and sharply defined white undertail-coverts.
Female and immature have dark eyes (but white in one-year-old male); they lack whitish at base of
bill of some Tufted Ducks; female has warmer brown head than Tufted (which has yellow eye);
pure white and sharply defined white undertail-coverts (sometimes seen in Tufted). First-year birds
told by head shape, length and pattern of bill, and dark eye. In flight, broader, more conspicuous
white wing-bar than Tufted Duck. Voice In flight, high-pitched crr-err. Habitat Shallow, well-
vegetated wetlands. Note Passage and winter hatched, mostly scarce. Occasionally summers in
Oman.Tufted Duck Aythya fuligula wv
L: 42. W: 70. Small diving duck with roundish head but fairly steep forehead; crest on nape, long and
drooping in male, minute in female. Bill blue-grey (darker in female) with broad black tip. Male has
black upperparts and purple head sheen. Female and male in eclipse have brownish sides to body;
female sometimes with whitish band around base of bill. In summer, female has darkish back, short
crest and broad black tip to bill. Some females show white undertail-coverts. In rapid flight has
conspicuous white wing-bar, almost the full length of wing. Habitat Lakes, ponds. Note Passage
and winter hatched.Helmeted Guineafowl Numida meleagris E/I
L: 63. W: 97. Size of domestic chicken. Note horny, brown protuberance on crown. Juvenile brownish
with buff and white spotting and less pronounced head pattern. Gregarious, runs fast with head held
high or flies rapidly with occasional glides. Voice Far-carrying, raucous kek, kek, kek, kek, kaaaaaa,
ka, ka, ka, ka, kaaaaa, ka ka, uttered by flocks or at roost. Habitat Savanna, wadis, scrub, thick cover.
Note Records of escapes from captivity from N and S Oman.Common Buttonquail Turnix sylvaticus V
L: 15. W: 27. Very hard to flush. Resembles Common Quail in buffish plumage, shape and gait, but
smaller with uniform orange breast with bold black spots on sides; lacks solid dark head marks of
Common Quail; female brighter than male. In flight, lark-sized with short tail, short, rounded wings
(quite unlike the quails, which have narrow wings), dark flight feathers contrasting with buffish
wing-coverts and body; rapid, whirring wingbeats for short distance before settling. Voice Female
has curious deep, hollow, resonant crooo... or hooo... usually lasting one second and repeated
every 1–2 seconds for 30 seconds or more; often at night and resembles distant lowing of cattle.
Habitat Sandy plains with palmetto scrub, brush-covered wastes, neglected cultivation. Note May
breed Iran, but rare; vagrant Oman. [Alt: Andalusian Hemipode, Kurrichane Buttonquail]