The male stands out with a green and copper sheen on its head and long, curved ornamental feathers.
The male has a green and copper head, a white throat and long sickle-shaped feathers that curve over the tail. The female has more subdued brown plumage.
At Shengjin Lake in Anhui, China, falcated ducks were recorded following different daily routines in winter and spring. In winter they rested in a dense raft on the lake, then took off together around sunset. Their destination was a series of large harvested rice fields about five kilometres from the lake roost.
During daylight on 9 February 2009, scans made every 15 minutes recorded no feeding. On 2 April, the ducks were feeding on the lake during the day: feeding birds made up an average of 47% of each scan. They were still gathering in the same part of the lake, but their daytime routine had changed.
The spring day included alternating periods of feeding and rest. Early feeding was followed by rest from around 08:00, then renewed feeding from around 09:00. By early April the winter dusk flights to the fields were no longer seen, and the ducks remained on the lake after darkness fell.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.
Conservation at Shengjin Lake needs to consider both safe daytime roosts and nearby rice fields. Based on the winter flights to harvested fields, the 2010 paper recommends retaining cultivation and traditional harvesting methods that leave spilled rice available. It also identifies pesticide exposure as a potential risk. Linking protection of resting areas on the lake with management of nearby farmland is a local conservation priority.