Gould observed 'its diving powers are of no common kind...we find that it spends some portion of its time on the ocean searching for mollusks...at the same time it evinces a great partiality to rivers, broads and ponds, on the borders of which it finds an abundance of...succulent grasses and roots of plants.'

'As will be seen the two sexes vary considerably in their colouring, the red head and neck and black breast of the male being replaced by mottled brown in the female.

DISTRIBUTION: Palaearctic distribution from western Europe to Asia, Lake Baikal and west Yakutia, Kazakhstan, and northeast China. Winters south to tropical Africa, India, and southeast Asia. In Britain there is a small breeding population and substantial numbers in the winter with over 41,000 in January 1990