HardheadScientific name: Aythya australis
Meaning of name: The meaning of Aythya is not known. Australis is Latin for Southern.
Aboriginal name: Erooto (e’roo’taw).
Distribution: Widespread in Australia but absent from the arid areas.
Description: Up to 60cm long with a 70cm wingspan.
Notes: The furthest distance recorded by the Australian Bird and Bat Banding Scheme for this species of bird to travel is 1,520km. The oldest bird recorded was recovered 4 years 10.1 months after being banded (information as at 14 June 2012).
The photographs for this species were not taken in the reserves of interest to the FQPB.
References: What Bird is That? Neville W Cayley. 1978
Handbook of Australian, New Zealand and Antarctic Birds. Various contributors.
Aboriginal names of bird species in south-west Western Australia, with suggestions for their adoption into common usage. Ian Abbott. 2009. Conservation Science Western Australia Journal. Volume 7 No 2 http://www.dpaw.wa.gov.au/about-us/science-and-research/76-publications-and-resources/103-conservation-science-wa-journal
Australian Bird and Bat Banding Scheme http://www.environment.gov.au/biodiversity/science/abbbs/abbbs-search.html
This bird is male. Photograph courtesy of bazanbirds.
The female is on the left and the male is on the right.
