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Ferruginous Ducks are relatively small ducks. Their plumage is dimorphic, i.e. males and females are slightly different. Male Ferruginous Ducks have a glossy chestnut-brown front and head, with a darker-brown back. In eclipse the males' head and front will be less conspicuously glossy and somewhat darker, making their plumage more similar to females'. The wing coverts are faintly barred. Males have a dark-grey bill with a light-grey tip that has a black "nail". The most obvious difference between the two sexes is that males have white irises, while the irises of females are black. Females have a dark-brown head and back, often with some vermiculation, and a somewhat lighter brown front with some inconspicuous barring. The bill of females has duller colouring, too. Both sexes have a white belly, which is often only seen in flight, and a prominent white stern patch (which is visible, because above the water line when floating on water).

The overall distribution of this species can be assessed, and specific locations where birds have been spotted can be found, based on individual sighting reports submitted by birdwatchers to ebird.org .

The global distribution of the Ferruginous Duck is available HERE .

Ferruginous Ducks are a partly migratory Eurasian species of diving duck. Their breeding range encompasses parts of southern and eastern Europe and of southern and western Asia. They are short-distance migrants, wintering farther South, in the Mediterranean, parts of the Middle East and North Africa and also in southern parts of Asia.

In Europe Ferruginous Ducks are found as permanent residents in a number of near-coastal wetlands along the northern Mediterranean coastline, most promienntly around the Adriatic Sea, but also in some locations in southern Iberia and in southern Sardinia and southern Sicily and in Cyprus. They also breed along the lower Danube river, up to about the Hungarian Pusta, in particular in the Danube delta and also along the rest of the West coast of the Black Sea. Further to the North, they are found in the Czech Republic and parts of Poland and from there eastwards up to the lower Dnjepr river and the North-east coast of the Caspian Sea, up to the northern base of the Caucasus mountain range. Elsewhere in south-eastern Europe, and e.g. in Asia Minor, they can be found during their usually short migration to more southern wetlands.

Being diving ducks, Ferruginous Ducks have a preference for habitats with water that is at least 1 m deep, such as e.g. marshes or lakes. At least during the breeding season these wetlands are usually well vegetated.

K. Paunovic reports spotting a Ferruginous Duck at Zasavica park near Sremska Mitrovica, Serbia, in July 2007. Others were found by A. Sarok in Vojvodina, Serbia, in the timeframe 2010-2024.

J. Pires found a Ferruginous Duck at Lagoa de Albufeira, near Sesimbra, Setubal, Portugal, in February 2019.

G. Normand reports finding a Ferruginous Duck in Bois de Vincennes, 12th district, Paris, in December 2020.

H. Dahlem-Senger found Ferruginous Ducks at Neuharlingersiel, Ostrfriesland, Germany, in September 2024.