A male red-crested pochard is seen in Lishui. [Photo/WeChat account: wxlishui]

A red-crested pochard – a large diving duck – was recently seen on the Hexi River in Jingning She autonomous county, administered by Lishui city in East China's Zhejiang province, marking the first time this species has been seen in Lishui.

The red-crested pochard belongs to the Anseriformes family Anatidae. The adults have an average length of 53-57 centimeters and a wingspan of 84-88 cm. The males have an orange-brown head with a red beak and pale flanks, while females are brown with pale cheeks.

Red-crested pochards mainly breed in Inner Mongolia, Xinjiang, and Qinghai and spend the winter in southern Tibet, Yunnan, Sichuan and Guizhou. They are rarely seen in Zhejiang.

In recent years, thanks to continuous improvements to the environment, the number of wintering migratory birds in Lishui has been increasing year by year. In order to create a welcoming home for migratory birds, related departments have taken various measures to protect them around the clock.

Jingning county has strengthened patrol work in key areas such as migratory birds' habitats and migration routes and severely cracked down on illegal activities such as overhunting and illegal trading to protect overwintering migratory birds.