Male characteristic features include a bright red bill with a rounded knob at the base.

[6] This tribe was thought to be limited to the Northern Hemisphere (what was believed to be the Palearctic), and experienced three or four bursts of speciation, one of which was by the ancestor of the rosy-billed and southern pochards.

[7] The species is highly autapomorphic and is placed in a sister-group with the southern pochard, but evidence for this relationship is lacking.

[2] Rosybill adults lack the dull eclipse plumage that is characteristic of northern individuals of the genera Aytha and Anas.

[8] Males tend to be slightly larger than females, but in general both sexes are very similar in terms of body size.

[10] Despite these pochards being strong fliers, their blunt-tipped wings require a faster wing-beats than that of many ducks and they have some trouble taking off.

[10] They do not walk as well on land as other dabbling ducks because their legs are placed further back on their bodies to help propel them when underwater.

[10] Rosy-billed pochards nest within tall grasses in wetlands, mainly in areas that extend from the central provinces of Córdoba, Santa Fe, Entre Ríos, and Buenos Aires, southwards to Río Negro.

[8][11] Seasonal dry periods are common in central Argentina and they force birds to move towards larger water areas in late summer.

By early fall, these areas are often dry and individuals are forced to move to find more water and better food sources elsewhere.

[3] This seed-dominated diet is due to the need to obtain carbohydrate-rich food, which is essential for meeting their thermoregulation requirements for the season.

[2] The displays include exaggerated drinking activities, mock preenings, head bobbings and neck extensions.

[12] Rosybills will swallow the lead bullets thinking they are stones, which are required for the mechanical breakdown of food within their gizzard.

[12] Not only were the bullets found inside the gizzard, but there were traces of lead concentrations within their bones, which is very toxic and detrimental to the health of the bird.