This species inhabits inland freshwater bodies and brackish coastal lakes, including shallow ponds and well-vegetated pools (Jennings 2010, Aspinall and Porter 2011). It tolerates proximity to humans and is frequently found on ornamental ponds, irrigation lakes, water reservoirs and sewage treatment plants (Jennings 2010). During winter, it also occurs on estuaries (Aspinall and Porter 2011). Its diet in Arabia is not well known, but it likely feeds on fish and invertebrates (Jennings 2010). Elsewhere, it predominantly takes adult and larval insects, as well as molluscs, crustaceans, adult and juvenile amphibians and occasionally small fish (del Hoyo et al. 1992, Konter 2001, Fjeldsa 2004). The species is partially migratory. Apart from a year-round resident population, the UAE hosts populations of passage migrants and winter visitors, which breed in central Eurasia and occur in the UAE between mid-September and October to March (Richardson 1990, Pedersen et al. 2017). The resident population may bread year-round, with peak activity between April and June (Jennings 2010). The nest is a floating platform of aquatic plant matter anchored to emergent vegetation, submerged branches or bushes close to the edge of shallow wetlands (Brown et al. 1982, del Hoyo et al. 1992, Fjeldsa 2004, Jennings 2010). Clutches contain three to five eggs, and pairs may breed up to three times per year (Jennings 2010).