Baer's pochard Baer's pochard Baer's pochard ("Aythya baeri") is a diving duck found in eastern Asia. It breeds in southeast Russia and northeast China, migrating in winter to southern China, Vietnam, Japan, and India. The name commemorates the Estonian naturalist Karl Ernst von Baer. At , it is similar in size and stance to its close relative, the ferruginous duck ("A. nyroca"), although the coloration of the drakes (males) is entirely different. Baer's pochard males are similar to those of the greater scaup ("A. marila"), but have a dark back and upper flanks; the white lower flanks and belly are conspicuous. The
USS Pochard (AM-375) She then proceeded to San Francisco, California, and San Diego, California, and sailed for Pearl Harbor; Eniwetok, Marshall Islands; and Guam; arriving Okinawa on 28 June. During July and August she conducted minesweeping operations around Kerama Retto. On 22 August "Pochard" was assigned to Commander 3rd Fleet, and proceeded to Tokyo Bay, arriving on the 29th. She remained in Tokyo Bay only a short period before sailing for Okinoyama Shoals, Sagami Wan, to conduct mine sweeping operations. "Pochard" remained in the Far East conducting minesweeping operations until 26 March 1946. She then returned to the United States for inactivation, decommissioning