View allAll Photos Tagged Anseriformes
[order] Anseriformes | [family] Anatidae | [latin] Branta canadensis | [UK] Canada Goose | [FR] Bernache du Canada | [DE] Kanadagans | [ES] Barnacla Canadiense | [IT] Oca del Canada | [NL] Grote Canadese Gans
Measurements
spanwidth min.: 160 cm
spanwidth max.: 175 cm
size min.: 90 cm
size max.: 100 cm
Breeding
incubation min.: 28 days
incubation max.: 30 days
fledging min.: 40 days
fledging max.: 48 days
broods 1
eggs min.: 4
eggs max.: 7
Physical characteristics
Many people can recognize a Canada Goose Branta canadensis by its characteristic black head, white cheek patches, and long black neck. However, there are several different races, so a Canada Goose in one region may be quite different from a Canada Goose in another. Although there has been some disagreement about the exact number of races of Canada Geese, most scientists believe that there are 11.
Members of the different races range in size from one of the smallest geese, the Cackling Canada Goose, which can weigh as little as 1.1 kg, to the largest of all geese, the Giant Canada Goose, which can weigh up to 8 kg. Wingspans vary between about 90 cm and 2 m. The underparts range in colour from light pearl-grey to chestnut, and even blackish brown. Differences in body proportions, particularly the relative length of the neck, the body shape, and the body stance, further distinguish the different races. In general, the larger the bird, the longer the neck and the more elongated the body.
Newly hatched Canada Geese have a coat of yellow to olive down that darkens to dull grey over the first few weeks of life. As the birds grow, feathers gradually cover the down, and by the time the young geese are ready to fly in late summer, they are nearly indistinguishable from their parents. From that point on, both males and females look the same throughout the year.
Habitat
You can find Canada Geese on almost any type of wetland, from small ponds to large lakes and rivers. However, Canada Geese spend as much or more time on land as they do in water.
Canada Geese breed in a wide range of habitats. They prefer low-lying areas with great expanses of wet grassy meadows and an abundance of ponds and lakes that serve as refuges from foxes and other land predators. The most northerly geese breed on the treeless tundra of the Arctic. Below the treeline, the geese nest in the open boreal forest, with its scattered stands of stunted spruce and tamarack. Nesting Canada Geese are at home in many places, from sheltered mountain streams and prairie pothole ponds to golf courses and urban parks. During fall and winter, Canada Geese favour agricultural land where vast fields of cereal grains and other crops provide abundant food and relative safety from predators.
Other details
This species from North America has been introduced in England since the middle of the 17th century and in Sweden since 1933. It has now colonised northern France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany. The population of the European Union is totalling 30000-35000 breeding pairs, and, despite being considered a pest in many areas, it is still introduced in some new areas
Feeding
Unlike many waterfowl species that feed mainly in aquatic environments, Canada Geese feed mostly on land. In spring and summer, they mostly graze on the leaves of grassy plants, but they also eat a wide variety of leaves, flowers, stems, roots, seeds, and berries. The geese must consume large quantities of food to obtain the nutrients they need, and they frequently spend 12 hours a day or more feeding. During the winter, Canada Geese often feed in fields where they find an abundance of spilled corn, oats, soybeans, and other crops. When such energy-rich foods are available, they often feed in the fields for a few hours in early morning and late afternoon and spend the rest of the day resting in safety on a lake or large river. Some Canada Geese graze on lawns, in parks, and on golf courses.
Spring is a very energetically demanding time in a goose's life, especially for breeding females. Canada Geese feed intensively during the few weeks before they leave southern agricultural areas to prepare for a period with little food when they first arrive on the northern breeding grounds. They will need sufficient reserves of fat and protein to complete migration, produce a clutch of eggs, and survive for about one month of incubation.
Conservation
Branta canadensis has a large range, breeding across tundra in much of Canada, Alaska (USA), and parts of the northern USA, and wintering in southern North America, including Mexico. Introduced populations are now resident in much of the USA south of the normal breeding range, as well as in a number of western European countries. It has an estimated global Extent of Occurrence of >10,000,000 km2, and has a correspondingly large global population, estimated at 1,000,000-10,000,000 individuals. Although hunting and other direct mortality takes a substantial toll, this species has increased its range and population since the 1940s1, and is thus evaluated as Least Concern. [conservation status from birdlife.org]
Breeding
The Canada Geese breed earlier in the season than many birds. Breeding is timed so that the eggs hatch when the plants that the goslings, or young geese, eat have their highest nutritional value. The hatch date also allows enough time for the goslings to grow big enough to fly south before freeze-up. Canada Geese that breed in temperate areas, with mild temperatures, begin nesting as soon as conditions are favourable in spring, in some cases as early as mid-March. Canada Geese that breed in the north reach nesting areas in late April or early May, later for Arctic breeders.
Some Canada Geese breed when they are one year old, but the vast majority do not nest for the first time until they are at least two or three. Usually five to seven eggs are laid, with older birds producing more eggs than birds nesting for the first time. The female incubates the eggs for 25 to 28 days while the male stands guard nearby. In some cases, he may be several hundred metres from the nest but is always vigilant and joins the female if the nest is threatened or if she leaves the nest. During the incubation period the female leaves the nest only briefly each day to feed and drink and bathe.
Most nest sites are located near water and often on islands. Nest sites are chosen to offer some protection from exposure to wind while giving the incubating female a clear line of sight to detect approaching predators. Female Canada Geese always return to nest in the same area where their parents nested and often use the same nest site year after year.
Soon after the young have hatched, families leave their nests, sometimes walking several kilometres in a few days to reach their brood-rearing area. If the geese have nested near the seacoast, they may descend the rivers to more favourable coastal marsh areas. From the moment they leave the nest, goslings feed on grasses and sedges in meadows and along shorelines.
A pair and its goslings are an almost inseparable troupe, acting in unison. Usually the female leads the way, followed by the young, with the gander, or male, bringing up the rear. When another goose family ventures too close, both the parents and young assume threatening postures and make a lot of noise. Numbers and not the size or weight of the adults seems to be decisive-large families almost always defeat small families, which in turn defeat pairs without young. Most encounters are settled without physical contact, and prolonged fights are rare.
From six to nine weeks after hatching, depending on the race, the birds are ready to take to the air as a family unit. By this time, only about half of the goslings that hatched still survive. In the north, Canada Geese feed on berries and put on a layer of fat before their southward migration. Prior to migration, the families come together into groups of a few to several dozen families, often in coastal areas. The last of the Canada Geese linger along northern shores until early October.
Migration
Spring migration for northern-breeding geese begins in late winter and may take several weeks to complete. The geese move slowly northward following the advancing line of melting snow. They make several feeding stops at key areas along the way to build up reserves that will be needed for the final leg of migration and reproduction.
Fall migration begins when the water and soil begin to freeze on the breeding grounds. The trip from breeding to wintering areas is faster than the spring flight north. For example, many Atlantic population Canada Geese travel more than 1 000 km from their breeding grounds in northern Quebec to the main wintering area along the United States eastern seaboard in less than a week. In fact, scientists have tracked some geese marked with radio transmitters that have completed the trip in just one day! Families with goslings migrating south for the first time probably take longer than adults without goslings.
In addition to the annual migration from breeding to wintering grounds, Canada Geese sometimes undertake a special voyage called a moult migration. Every year, geese must replace their worn-out flight feathers. The feathers are replaced all at once, so the geese cannot fly during the four- to five-week moulting period. The best places for the geese during this time are those with lots of open water where the birds can seek refuge if threatened and where they may find a good supply of the protein-rich food needed for growing new feathers. Most of the geese that don't breed during the season undertake this migration, which usually involves travelling north, often well beyond the normal breeding range, between late May and early June. Successful breeders moult later in the season, remaining with their young goslings, which have not begun to fly. Feral populations mostly sedentary.
Class: Aves.
Subclass: Galloanserae.
Superorder: Anserimorphae.
Order: Anseriformes.
Suborder: Anseri.
Superfamily: Anatoidea.
Family: Anatidae.
L'ànec collverd és un ocell aquàtic que fa uns 60 cm de llargada i uns 95 cm amb les ales obertes.
El mascle és de color gris amb el cap verd fosc, el bec groguenc, el pit marronós, el ventre grisós i la cua blanca. Té una franja blavosa lilosa amb els marges blancs a cada ala.
Durant l'estiu canvia el plomatge i el color verdós de coll es torna marronós.
La femella és de color marronós amb taques; té el bec marronós amb els marges ataronjats.
Menja plantes aquàtiques i també granotes i insectes.
Fa el niu entre les herbes dels marges aquàtics o en forats d'arbres i el revesteix de plomissol.
La femella pon entre 7 i 18 ous de color verdós clar i els incuba durant unes 4 setmanes. Els aneguets comencen a volar a les 7 setmanes.
Viu es zones aquàtiques com aiguamolls, estanys, rius, rieres i grans basses.
És un animal tranquil que arriba a viure en zones urbanes (parcs amb petits llacs).
S'aixeca per volar fàcilment des de l'aigua. Vola amb rapidesa.
Viu entre 20 i 30 anys.
El ánade real o azulón es una ave acuática que mide unos 60 cm de largo y unos 95 cm con las alas abiertas.
El macho es de color gris con la cabeza verde oscura, el pico amarillento, el pecho marrón, el vientre grisáceo y la cola blanca. Tiene una franja azul lilosa con los márgenes blancos en cada ala.
Durante el verano cambia el plumaje y el color verdoso del cuello se vuelve marrón.
La hembra es de color marrón con manchas; tiene el pico marronáceo con los márgenes anaranjados.
Come plantas acuáticas y también ranas e insectos.
Construye el nido entre las hierbas de los márgenes acuáticos o en agujeros de árboles y lo reviste de plumón.
La hembra pone entre 7 y 18 huevos de color verdoso claro y los incuba durante unas 4 semanas. Los patitos comienzan en volar a las 7 semanas.
Vive enzonas acuáticas como marismas, estanques, ríos y grandes balsas.
Es un animal tranquilo que llega en vivir en zonas urbanas (parques con pequeños lagos).
Se Levanta para volar fácilmente desde el agua. Vuela con rapidez.
Vive entre 20 y 30 años.
Thanks for your visit… Any comment you make on my photographs is greatly appreciated and encouraging! But please do not use this image without permission.
Teal,
Order,- Anseriformes,
Family,- Anatidae,
Species,- Anas crecca,
The smallest common surface-feeding duck, the Teal is agile and quick in flight, its movements recalling those of a wader, Nervous groups may often swoop down to a sheltered bay, only to dart over the water surface and wheel up and away once more, sometimes several such approaches precede their eventual settling,
In places, Teal occur in hundreds but 20 - 40 are more typical, scattered along well-vegetated or muddy shores, or in wet marshes,
Voice,- Male has lod, ringing, high-pitched ' cirk crik ' that can be easily heard at long range marshes or estuaeies, female has high quack,
Nesting,- Down-lined hollow near water, 8 - 11 eggs 1 brood, April - June,
Feeding,- Mosly in water or on muddy shores, taking plants and seeds,
Length,- 34 - 38 cm ( 13.5 - 15 in ),
Wingspan,- 58 - 64 cm ( 23 - 25 in ), Weight,- 250 - 400 g ( 9 - 14 oz ).
Social,- Small flocks,
Lifespan,- 10 - 15 years,
Status,- Secure,
Thank you so much for your visits, comments and favs.
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©2017 Bruno Portier, All Rights Reserved. All images of this gallery are not available for use on websites, blogs or other media without the explicit written permission of the photographer.
The mallard or wild duck (Anas platyrhynchos) is a dabbling duck that breeds throughout the temperate and subtropical Americas, Eurasia, and North Africa. It has been introduced to New Zealand, Australia, Peru, Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina, Chile, Colombia, the Falkland Islands, and South Africa. This duck belongs to the subfamily Anatinae of the waterfowl family Anatidae. Males have green heads, while the females (hens or ducks) have mainly brown-speckled plumage. Both sexes have an area of white-bordered black or iridescent purple or blue feathers called a speculum on their wings; males especially tend to have blue speculum feathers. The mallard is 50–65 cm (20–26 in) long, of which the body makes up around two-thirds the length. The wingspan is 81–98 cm (32–39 in) and the bill is 4.4 to 6.1 cm (1.7 to 2.4 in) long. It is often slightly heavier than most other dabbling ducks, weighing 0.7–1.6 kg (1.5–3.5 lb). Mallards live in wetlands, eat water plants and small animals, and are social animals preferring to congregate in groups or flocks of varying sizes.
The female lays 8 to 13 creamy white to greenish-buff spotless eggs, on alternate days. Incubation takes 27 to 28 days and fledging takes 50 to 60 days. The ducklings are precocial and fully capable of swimming as soon as they hatch.
The mallard is considered to be a species of least concern by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Unlike many waterfowl, mallards are considered an invasive species in some regions. It is a very adaptable species, being able to live and even thrive in urban areas which may have supported more localised, sensitive species of waterfowl before development. The non-migratory mallard interbreeds with indigenous wild ducks of closely related species through genetic pollution by producing fertile offspring. Complete hybridisation of various species of wild duck gene pools could result in the extinction of many indigenous waterfowl. This species is the main ancestor of most breeds of domestic duck, and its naturally evolved wild gene pool has been genetically polluted by the domestic and feral mallard populations.
Taxonomy and evolutionary history
The mallard was one of the many bird species originally described in the 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae by Carl Linnaeus. He gave it two binomial names: Anas platyrhynchos and Anas boschas.The latter was generally preferred until 1906 when Einar Lönnberg established that A. platyrhynchos had priority, as it appeared on an earlier page in the text. The scientific name comes from Latin Anas, "duck" and Ancient Greek πλατυρυγχος, platyrhynchus, "broad-billed" (from πλατύς, platys, "broad" and ρυγχός, rhunkhos, "bill"). The genome of Anas platyrhynchos was sequenced in 2013.
The name mallard originally referred to any wild drake, and it is sometimes still used this way. It was derived from the Old French malart or mallart for "wild drake" although its true derivation is unclear. It may be related to, or at least influenced by, an Old High German masculine proper name Madelhart, clues lying in the alternative English forms "maudelard" and "mawdelard". Masle (male) has also been proposed as an influence.
Mallards frequently interbreed with their closest relatives in the genus Anas, such as the American black duck, and also with species more distantly related, such as the northern pintail, leading to various hybrids that may be fully fertile. The mallard has hybridized with more than 40 species in the wild, and an additional 20 species in captivity, though fertile hybrids typically have two Anas parents. Mallards and their domestic conspecifics are fully interfertile; many wild mallard populations in North America contain significant amounts of domestic mallard DNA.
Genetic analysis has shown that certain mallards appear to be closer to their Indo-Pacific relatives, while others are related to their American relatives. Mitochondrial DNA data for the D-loop sequence suggest that mallards may have evolved in the general area of Siberia. Mallard bones rather abruptly appear in food remains of ancient humans and other deposits of fossil bones in Europe, without a good candidate for a local predecessor species. The large Ice Age palaeosubspecies that made up at least the European and West Asian populations during the Pleistocene has been named Anas platyrhynchos palaeoboschas.
Mallards are differentiated in their mitochondrial DNA between North American and Eurasian populations,[19] but the nuclear genome displays a notable lack of genetic structure. Haplotypes typical of American mallard relatives and eastern spot-billed ducks can be found in mallards around the Bering Sea. The Aleutian Islands hold a population of mallards that appear to be evolving towards becoming a subspecies, as gene flow with other populations is very limited.
Also, the paucity of morphological differences between the Old World mallards and the New World mallard demonstrates the extent to which the genome is shared among them such that birds like the Chinese spot-billed duck are highly similar to the Old World mallard, and birds such as the Hawaiian duck are highly similar to the New World mallard.
The size of the mallard varies clinally; for example, birds from Greenland, though larger, have smaller bills, paler plumage, and stockier bodies than birds further south and are sometimes classified as a separate subspecies, the Greenland mallard (A. p. conboschas).
Description
The mallard is a medium-sized waterfowl species that is often slightly heavier than most other dabbling ducks. It is 50–65 cm (20–26 in) long – of which the body makes up around two-thirds – has a wingspan of 81–98 cm (32–39 in),[24]: 505 and weighs 0.7–1.6 kg (1.5–3.5 lb).[25] Among standard measurements, the wing chord is 25.7 to 30.6 cm (10.1 to 12.0 in), the bill is 4.4 to 6.1 cm (1.7 to 2.4 in), and the tarsus is 4.1 to 4.8 cm (1.6 to 1.9 in). The breeding male mallard is unmistakable, with a glossy bottle-green head and a white collar that demarcates the head from the purple-tinged brown breast, grey-brown wings, and a pale grey belly. The rear of the male is black, with white-bordered dark tail feathers. The bill of the male is a yellowish-orange tipped with black, with that of the female generally darker and ranging from black to mottled orange and brown. The female mallard is predominantly mottled, with each individual feather showing sharp contrast from buff to very dark brown, a coloration shared by most female dabbling ducks, and has buff cheeks, eyebrow, throat, and neck, with a darker crown and eye-stripe. Mallards, like other sexually-dimorphic birds, can sometimes go though spontaneous sex reversal, often caused by damaged or nonfunctioning sex organs, such as the ovaries in mallard hens. This phenomenon can cause female mallards to exhibit male plumage, and vice versa (phenotypic feminisation or masculinisation).
Both male and female mallards have distinct iridescent purple-blue speculum feathers edged with white, which are prominent in flight or at rest but temporarily shed during the annual summer moult. Upon hatching, the plumage of the duckling is yellow on the underside and face (with streaks by the eyes) and black on the back (with some yellow spots) all the way to the top and back of the head. Its legs and bill are also black. As it nears a month in age, the duckling's plumage starts becoming drab, looking more like the female, though more streaked, and its legs lose their dark grey colouring. Two months after hatching, the fledgling period has ended, and the duckling is now a juvenile. The duckling is able to fly 50–60 days after hatching. Its bill soon loses its dark grey colouring, and its sex can finally be distinguished visually by three factors: 1) the bill is yellow in males, but black and orange in females; 2) the breast feathers are reddish-brown in males, but brown in females; and 3) in males, the centre tail feather (drake feather) is curled, but in females, the centre tail feather is straight. During the final period of maturity leading up to adulthood (6–10 months of age), the plumage of female juveniles remains the same while the plumage of male juveniles gradually changes to its characteristic colours. This change in plumage also applies to adult mallard males when they transition in and out of their non-breeding eclipse plumage at the beginning and the end of the summer moulting period. The adulthood age for mallards is fourteen months, and the average life expectancy is three years, but they can live to twenty.
Several species of duck have brown-plumaged females that can be confused with the female mallard. The female gadwall (Mareca strepera) has an orange-lined bill, white belly, black and white speculum that is seen as a white square on the wings in flight, and is a smaller bird. More similar to the female mallard in North America are the American black duck (A. rubripes), which is notably darker-hued in both sexes than the mallard, and the mottled duck (A. fulvigula), which is somewhat darker than the female mallard, and with slightly different bare-part colouration and no white edge on the speculum.
Mallards are among the most common bird species to exhibit aberrant colouration, typically due to genetic mutations.[39] The female pictured here is leucistic; leucism in birds often results in 'cream-colored', 'apricot' or muted feathers on certain parts of the body.
In captivity, domestic ducks come in wild-type plumages, white, and other colours. Most of these colour variants are also known in domestic mallards not bred as livestock, but kept as pets, aviary birds, etc., where they are rare but increasing in availability.
A noisy species, the female has the deep quack stereotypically associated with ducks. Male mallards make a sound phonetically similar to that of the female, a typical quack, but it is deeper and quieter compared to that of the female. Research conducted by Middlesex University on two English mallard populations found that the vocalisations of the mallard varies depending on their environment and have something akin to a regional accent, with urban mallards in London being much louder and more vociferous compared to rural mallards in Cornwall, serving as an adaptation to persistent levels of anthropogenic noise.
When incubating a nest, or when offspring are present, females vocalise differently, making a call that sounds like a truncated version of the usual quack. This maternal vocalisation is highly attractive to their young. The repetition and frequency modulation of these quacks form the auditory basis for species identification in offspring, a process known as acoustic conspecific identification. In addition, females hiss if the nest or offspring are threatened or interfered with. When taking off, the wings of a mallard produce a characteristic faint whistling noise.
The mallard is a rare example of both Allen's Rule and Bergmann's Rule in birds. Bergmann's Rule, which states that polar forms tend to be larger than related ones from warmer climates, has numerous examples in birds, as in case of the Greenland mallard which is larger than the mallards further south. Allen's Rule says that appendages like ears tend to be smaller in polar forms to minimise heat loss, and larger in tropical and desert equivalents to facilitate heat diffusion, and that the polar taxa are stockier overall. Examples of this rule in birds are rare as they lack external ears, but the bill of ducks is supplied with a few blood vessels to prevent heat loss, and, as in the Greenland mallard, the bill is smaller than that of birds farther south, illustrating the rule.
Due to the variability of the mallard's genetic code, which gives it its vast interbreeding capability, mutations in the genes that decide plumage colour are very common and have resulted in a wide variety of hybrids, such as Brewer's duck (mallard × gadwall, Mareca strepera).
Distribution and habitat
The mallard is widely distributed across the Northern and Southern Hemispheres; in North America its range extends from southern and central Alaska to Mexico, the Hawaiian Islands, across the Palearctic, from Iceland and southern Greenland and parts of Morocco (North Africa) in the west, Scandinavia and Britain to the north, and to Siberia, Japan, and South Korea. Also in the east, it ranges to south-eastern and south-western Australia and New Zealand in the Southern hemisphere. It is strongly migratory in the northern parts of its breeding range, and winters farther south. For example, in North America, it winters south to the southern United States and northern Mexico, but also regularly strays into Central America and the Caribbean between September and May. A drake later named "Trevor" attracted media attention in 2018 when it turned up on the island of Niue, an atypical location for mallards.
The mallard inhabits a wide range of habitats and climates, from the Arctic tundra to subtropical regions. It is found in both fresh- and salt-water wetlands, including parks, small ponds, rivers, lakes and estuaries, as well as shallow inlets and open sea within sight of the coastline. Water depths of less than 0.9 metres (3.0 ft) are preferred, with birds avoiding areas more than a few metres deep. They are attracted to bodies of water with aquatic vegetation.
Behaviour
The mallard is omnivorous and very flexible in its choice of food. Its diet may vary based on several factors, including the stage of the breeding cycle, short-term variations in available food, nutrient availability, and interspecific and intraspecific competition. The majority of the mallard's diet seems to be made up of gastropods, insects (including beetles, flies, lepidopterans, dragonflies, and caddisflies), crustaceans, other arthropods, worms, many varieties of seeds and plant matter, and roots and tubers. During the breeding season, male birds were recorded to have eaten 37.6% animal matter and 62.4% plant matter, most notably the grass Echinochloa crus-galli, and nonlaying females ate 37.0% animal matter and 63.0% plant matter, while laying females ate 71.9% animal matter and only 28.1% plant matter. Plants generally make up the larger part of a bird's diet, especially during autumn migration and in the winter.
The mallard usually feeds by dabbling for plant food or grazing; there are reports of it eating frogs. However, in 2017 a flock of mallards in Romania were observed hunting small migratory birds, including grey wagtails and black redstarts, the first documented occasion they had been seen attacking and consuming large vertebrates. It usually nests on a river bank, but not always near water. It is highly gregarious outside of the breeding season and forms large flocks, which are known as "sordes".
Breeding
Mallards usually form pairs (in October and November in the Northern Hemisphere) until the female lays eggs at the start of the nesting season, which is around the beginning of spring. At this time she is left by the male who joins up with other males to await the moulting period, which begins in June (in the Northern Hemisphere). During the brief time before this, however, the males are still sexually potent and some of them either remain on standby to sire replacement clutches (for female mallards that have lost or abandoned their previous clutch) or forcibly mate with females that appear to be isolated or unattached regardless of their species and whether or not they have a brood of ducklings.
Nesting sites are typically on the ground, hidden in vegetation where the female's speckled plumage serves as effective camouflage, but female mallards have also been known to nest in hollows in trees, boathouses, roof gardens and on balconies, sometimes resulting in hatched offspring having difficulty following their parent to water.
Egg clutches number 8–13 creamy white to greenish-buff eggs free of speckles. They measure about 58 mm (2.3 in) in length and 32 mm (1.3 in) in width.[90] The eggs are laid on alternate days, and incubation begins when the clutch is almost complete. Incubation takes 27–28 days and fledging takes 50–60 days. The ducklings are precocial and fully capable of swimming as soon as they hatch. However, filial imprinting compels them to instinctively stay near the mother, not only for warmth and protection but also to learn about and remember their habitat as well as how and where to forage for food. Though adoptions are known to occur, female mallards typically do not tolerate stray ducklings near their broods, and will violently attack and drive away any unfamiliar young, sometimes going as far as to kill them.
When ducklings mature into flight-capable juveniles, they learn about and remember their traditional migratory routes (unless they are born and raised in captivity). In New Zealand, where mallards are naturalised, the nesting season has been found to be longer, eggs and clutches are larger and nest survival is generally greater compared with mallards in their native range.
In cases where a nest or brood fails, some mallards may mate for a second time in an attempt to raise a second clutch, typically around early-to-mid summer. In addition, mallards may occasionally breed during the autumn in cases of unseasonably warm weather; one such instance of a 'late' clutch occurred in November 2011, in which a female successfully hatched and raised a clutch of eleven ducklings at the London Wetland Centre.
During the breeding season, both male and female mallards can become aggressive, driving off competitors to themselves or their mate by charging at them. Males tend to fight more than females and attack each other by repeatedly pecking at their rival's chest, ripping out feathers and even skin on rare occasions. Female mallards are also known to carry out 'inciting displays', which encourage other ducks in the flock to begin fighting. It is possible that this behaviour allows the female to evaluate the strength of potential partners.
The drakes that end up being left out after the others have paired off with mating partners sometimes target an isolated female duck, even one of a different species, and proceed to chase and peck at her until she weakens, at which point the males take turns copulating with the female. Lebret (1961) calls this behaviour "Attempted Rape Flight", and Stanley Cramp and K.E.L. Simmons (1977) speak of "rape-intent flights". Male mallards also occasionally chase other male ducks of a different species, and even each other, in the same way. In one documented case of "homosexual necrophilia", a male mallard copulated with another male he was chasing after the chased male died upon flying into a glass window. This paper was awarded an Ig Nobel Prize in 2003.
Mallards are opportunistically targeted by brood parasites, occasionally having eggs laid in their nests by redheads, ruddy ducks, lesser scaup, gadwalls, northern shovelers, northern pintails, cinnamon teal, common goldeneyes, and other mallards. These eggs are generally accepted when they resemble the eggs of the host mallard, but the hen may attempt to eject them or even abandon the nest if parasitism occurs during egg laying.
Predators and threats
In addition to human hunting, mallards of all ages (but especially young ones) and in all locations must contend with a wide diversity of predators including raptors and owls, mustelids, corvids, snakes, raccoons, opossums, skunks, turtles, large fish, felids, and canids, the last two including domestic cats and dogs. The most prolific natural predators of adult mallards are red foxes (Vulpes vulpes; which most often pick off brooding females) and the faster or larger birds of prey, (e.g. peregrine falcons, Aquila or Haliaeetus eagles). In North America, adult mallards face no fewer than 15 species of birds of prey, from northern harriers (Circus hudsonius) and short-eared owls (Asio flammeus) (both smaller than a mallard) to huge bald (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) and golden eagles (Aquila chrysaetos), and about a dozen species of mammalian predators, not counting several more avian and mammalian predators who threaten eggs and nestlings.
Mallards are also preyed upon by other waterside apex predators, such as grey herons (Ardea cinerea), great blue herons (Ardea herodias) and black-crowned night herons (Nycticorax nycticorax), the European herring gull (Larus argentatus), the wels catfish (Silurus glanis), and the northern pike (Esox lucius). Crows (Corvus spp.) are also known to kill ducklings and adults on occasion. Also, mallards may be attacked by larger anseriformes such as swans (Cygnus spp.) and geese during the breeding season, and are frequently driven off by these birds over territorial disputes. Mute swans (Cygnus olor) have been known to attack or even kill mallards if they feel that the ducks pose a threat to their offspring. Common loons (Gavia inmer) are similarly territorial and aggressive towards other birds in such disputes, and will frequently drive mallards away from their territory. However, in 2019, a pair of common loons in Wisconsin were observed raising a mallard duckling for several weeks, having seemingly adopted the bird after it had been abandoned by its parents.
The predation-avoidance behaviour of sleeping with one eye open, allowing one brain hemisphere to remain aware while the other half sleeps, was first demonstrated in mallards, although it is believed to be widespread among birds in general.
Status and conservation
Since 1998, the mallard has been rated as a species of least concern on the IUCN Red List of Endangered Species. This is because it has a large range–more than 20,000,000 km2 (7,700,000 mi2) and because its population is increasing, rather than declining by 30% over ten years or three generations and thus is not warranted a vulnerable rating. Also, the population size of the mallard is very large.
Unlike many waterfowl, mallards have benefited from human alterations to the world – so much so that they are now considered an invasive species in some regions. They are a common sight in urban parks, lakes, ponds, and other human-made water features in the regions they inhabit, and are often tolerated or encouraged in human habitat due to their placid nature towards humans and their beautiful and iridescent colours. While most are not domesticated, mallards are so successful at coexisting in human regions that the main conservation risk they pose comes from the loss of genetic diversity among a region's traditional ducks once humans and mallards colonise an area. Mallards are very adaptable, being able to live and even thrive in urban areas which may have supported more localised, sensitive species of waterfowl before development. The release of feral mallards in areas where they are not native sometimes creates problems through interbreeding with indigenous waterfowl. These non-migratory mallards interbreed with indigenous wild ducks from local populations of closely related species through genetic pollution by producing fertile offspring. Complete hybridisation of various species of wild duck gene pools could result in the extinction of many indigenous waterfowl. The mallard itself is the ancestor of most domestic ducks, and its naturally evolved wild gene pool gets genetically polluted in turn by the domestic and feral populations. Over time, a continuum of hybrids ranging between almost typical examples of either species develop; the speciation process is beginning to reverse itself. This has created conservation concerns for relatives of the mallard, such as the Hawaiian duck, the New Zealand grey duck (A. s. superciliosa) subspecies of the Pacific black duck, the American black duck, the mottled duck, Meller's duck, the yellow-billed duck, and the Mexican duck, in the latter case even leading to a dispute as to whether these birds should be considered a species (and thus entitled to more conservation research and funding) or included in the mallard species. Ecological changes and hunting have also led to a decline of local species; for example, the New Zealand grey duck population declined drastically due to overhunting in the mid-20th century. Hybrid offspring of Hawaiian ducks seem to be less well adapted to native habitat, and using them in re-introduction projects apparently reduces success. In summary, the problems of mallards "hybridising away" relatives is more a consequence of local ducks declining than of mallards spreading; allopatric speciation and isolating behaviour have produced today's diversity of mallard-like ducks despite the fact that, in most, if not all, of these populations, hybridisation must have occurred to some extent.
Invasiveness
Mallards are causing severe "genetic pollution" to South Africa's biodiversity by breeding with endemic ducks even though the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds – an agreement to protect the local waterfowl populations – applies to the mallard as well as other ducks.[131] The hybrids of mallards and the yellow-billed duck are fertile, capable of producing hybrid offspring. If this continues, only hybrids occur and in the long term result in the extinction of various indigenous waterfowl. The mallard can crossbreed with 63 other species, posing a severe threat to indigenous waterfowl's genetic integrity. Mallards and their hybrids compete with indigenous birds for resources, including nest sites, roosting sites, and food.
Availability of mallards, mallard ducklings, and fertilised mallard eggs for public sale and private ownership, either as poultry or as pets, is currently legal in the United States, except for the state of Florida, which has currently banned domestic ownership of mallards. This is to prevent hybridisation with the native mottled duck.
The mallard is considered an invasive species in Australia and New Zealand, where it competes with the Pacific black duck (known as the grey duck locally in New Zealand) which was over-hunted in the past. There, and elsewhere, mallards are spreading with increasing urbanisation and hybridising with local relatives.
The eastern or Chinese spot-billed duck is currently introgressing into the mallard populations of the Primorsky Krai, possibly due to habitat changes from global warming. The Mariana mallard was a resident allopatric population – in most respects a good species – apparently initially derived from mallard-Pacific black duck hybrids; it became extinct in the late 20th century.
The Laysan duck is an insular relative of the mallard, with a very small and fluctuating population. Mallards sometimes arrive on its island home during migration, and can be expected to occasionally have remained and hybridised with Laysan ducks as long as these species have existed. However, these hybrids are less well adapted to the peculiar ecological conditions of Laysan Island than the local ducks, and thus have lower fitness. Laysan ducks were found throughout the Hawaiian archipelago before 400 AD, after which they suffered a rapid decline during the Polynesian colonisation.Now, their range includes only Laysan Island. It is one of the successfully translocated birds, after having become nearly extinct in the early 20th century.
Relationship with humans
Mallards have often been ubiquitous in their regions among the ponds, rivers, and streams of human parks, farms, and other human-made waterways – even to the point of visiting water features in human courtyards.
George Hetzel, mallard still life painting, 1883–1884
Mallards have had a long relationship with humans. Almost all domestic duck breeds derive from the mallard, with the exception of a few Muscovy breeds, and are listed under the trinomial name A. p. domesticus. Mallards are generally monogamous while domestic ducks are mostly polygamous. Domestic ducks have no territorial behaviour and are less aggressive than mallards. Domestic ducks are mostly kept for meat; their eggs are also eaten, and have a strong flavour. They were first domesticated in Southeast Asia at least 4,000 years ago, during the Neolithic Age, and were also farmed by the Romans in Europe, and the Malays in Asia. As the domestic duck and the mallard are the same species as each other, it is common for mallards to mate with domestic ducks and produce hybrid offspring that are fully fertile. Because of this, mallards have been found to be contaminated with the genes of the domestic duck.
While the keeping of domestic breeds is more popular, pure-bred mallards are sometimes kept for eggs and meat, although they may require wing clipping to restrict flying.
Hunting
Mallards are one of the most common varieties of ducks hunted as a sport due to the large population size. The ideal location for hunting mallards is considered to be where the water level is somewhat shallow where the birds can be found foraging for food. Hunting mallards might cause the population to decline in some places, at some times, and with some populations. In certain countries, the mallard may be legally shot but is protected under national acts and policies. For example, in the United Kingdom, the mallard is protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, which restricts certain hunting methods or taking or killing mallards.
As food
Since ancient times, the mallard has been eaten as food. The wild mallard was eaten in Neolithic Greece. Usually, only the breast and thigh meat is eaten. It does not need to be hung before preparation, and is often braised or roasted, sometimes flavoured with bitter orange or with port.
[order] ANSERIFORMES | [family] Anatidae | [latin] Branta bernicla | [UK] Brant Goose | [FR] Bernache cravant | [DE] Ringelgans | [ES] Barnacla de Cara Negra | [NL] Rotgans |
Measurements
spanwidth min.: 105 cm
spanwidth max.: 117 cm
size min.: 55 cm
size max.: 62 cm
Breeding
incubation min.: 24 days
incubation max.: 26 days
fledging min.: 36 days
fledging max.: 26 days
broods 1
eggs min.: 6
eggs max.: 10
Light-bellied Brent Goose
Branta bernicla hrota
Cadhan
This population winters almost entirely in Ireland, with small numbers in parts of Britain and France.
Status: Winter migrant from high-Arctic Canada. Most occur in Ireland between October and April.
Conservation Concern: Amber-listed as the majority winter at less than ten sites. The Irish population is also internationally significant, another amber listing criterion. The European population has been evaluated as Vulnerable as several important populations declined.
Identification: Small dark goose, with a black head, neck and breast, and dark-brown upperparts and pale underparts. Almost whitish flanks, and small white crescent on the upperparts of the neck visible at close range.
Similar Species: Dark-bellied Brent Goose, Black Brant, Barnacle Goose
Call: Gutteral 'rhut, rhut'
Diet: During the winter, it feeds mostly on eel-grass, which grows on muddy estuaries, and also on grasslands, usually when coastal supplies have been depleted at estuarine sites.
Breeding: Nests in small, loose colonies by coastal tundra, with pools and small inlets.
Wintering: Mostly found on coastal estuaries during the autumn and early winter, and also on grasslands from mid-winter, until departure for the breeding grounds begins in late April.
Where to See: Highest numbers (c. 30,000) are seen at Strangford Lough in Northern Ireland in October, where most congregate on arrival. Thereafter, they move to other estuarine sites. Lough Foyle in County Derry, Dublin Bay in County Dublin, Tralee Bay, Lough Gill & Akeragh Lough in County Kerry, Rogerstown Estuary in County Dublin, Wexford Harbour & Slobs in County Wexford are other well-used sites (1,000-3,500 birds).
Physical characteristics
The Brant is similar in appearance to the Canada Goose, but smaller and darker. The adult has a gray belly and breast, white rump, and black neck and head with a thin white necklace and no chin-strap.
Fast fliers with swept-back wings, Brant are usually found in a flock. They forage while wading, dabbling in shallow water, or while walking on mudflats or the shore. They display strong site-fidelity to both their wintering and nesting areas.
Habitat
Brant are almost exclusively coastal in their range and are found in shallow bays and saltwater marshes. They nest in the wet, coastal tundra of the high Arctic. Their winter habitat is closely tied to the occurrence of sea grasses and marine algae.
Other details
Branta bernicla is a rare breeder in the European Arctic, but winters mainly in coastal areas of western Europe, which accounts for less than half of its global wintering range. Its European wintering population is large (>240,000 individuals), and increased between 1970-1990. Although a few populations increased or were broadly stable during 1990-2000, key wintering populations (of the subspecies B. b. bernicla) in the United Kingdom, France and the Netherlands declined, and the species underwent a large decline (>30%) overall.
This goose is breeding on the arctic coasts of Eurasia and North America, mainly on small islets protected from polar foxes (Alopex lagopus). It winters along the temperate Atlantic and Pacific coasts. The birds visiting the European Union belong to three different populations (Scott & Rose). The first population, estimated at 20000 individuals, comprises the white-bellied birds of the race hrota, breeding in Greenland and northern Canada and wintering in Ireland. The second population, estimated at 5000 individuals, comprises the birds of the race hrota breeding on Svalbard and wintering in Denmark and north-eastern England. The third population, estimated at 300000 individuals, comprises the dark-bellied birds of the nominate race, breeding along the Russian coasts and wintering in Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, south-western England and France. All three populations have undergone important fluctuations. The nominate race has experienced a 90% decline during the 1930s following a disease of its foodplant, Zostera marina. It has started to recover since the 1950s, and the increase is still in progress. The populations of Canada and Greenland have increased since the 1960s and seem currently to be stable. The population of Svalbard dropped from about 40000-50000 to a mere 2000 at the end of the 1960s, not only because of the disease of Zostera but also because of non sustainable hunting. Since the 1970s it has recovered
Feeding
Historically, Brant fed almost exclusively on eelgrass, which is still strongly preferred when available. Now they also forage on grasslands and have been able to diversify their diet in the absence of eelgrass, although their range is still closely tied to eelgrass. Brant also eat some aquatic invertebrates.
Conservation
This species has an extremely large range, and hence does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the range size criterion (Extent of Occurrence 30% decline over ten years or three generations). The population size is very large, and hence does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the population size criterion (10% in ten years or three generations, or with a specified population structure). For these reasons the species is evaluated as Least Concern. [conservation status from birdlife.org]
Breeding
Long-term pair bonds usually form on the wintering grounds. Nesting occurs in loose colonies, on small islands in tundra ponds. The breeding range of the Brant is typically within five miles of the coast. The nest is a shallow bowl of grass and other vegetation, lined with down. The female incubates 3 to 5 eggs for 22 to 24 days. The young leave the nest within a day of hatching, and both parents continue to tend them and lead them to sources of food. During the long days of the high-Arctic summer, the young feed at all hours, and grow quickly. They fledge at 40 to 50 days, but stay with the parents through the first migration.
Migration
Single wholly migratory population. Depart Russian tundras mid-August to 1st week September. Main route west along arctic coasts to White Sea, then overland to Gulfs of Finland and Bothnia. Passage through Baltic mid-September to early October; first arrivals Denmark late September but bulk October. Some stay Denmark and western Germany through November before moving on in colder weather; others go straight to winter quarters in Netherlands, south-east England, and west France, where peak numbers December-February. Return passage begins early March; most leave England and France by mid-April. Spring gatherings in Netherlands, Denmark and western Germany until main departures in mid-May; only stragglers after mid-June.
Mute Swan, Order Anseriformes, Family Anatidae, Species Cygnus olor,..
A large, familiar bird, strikingly white and obvious even at great range, Mute Swan is generally quite tame, even semi-domesticated in its behaviour and choice of habitat.
Territorial pairs are aggressive, even to people or their dogs, using impressive displays of arched wings and loud, hissing calls.
In some floodplains, small groups regularly feed on dry land, a habit that is more consistent with the two " wild swans ", Bewick's and Whooper,
Voice - Strangled trumpeting and hissing notes,
Nesting - Huge pile of vegetation at water's edge; up to 8 eggs; 1 brood; March - June.
Feeding - Plucks vegetable matter from short grass in fields and salt marshes, pulls the same from shallow water, or upends in deeper water,..
Length 1.4 - 1.6m,
Wingspan - 2,08 - 2.38m,
Weight - 10 - 12kg,
Lifespan - 15 - 20 years,
Social - Small flocks,
Status - Secure,...
Praia de Faro, Faro, Portugal
[order] Anseriformes | [family] Anatidae | [latin] Anas querquedula | [UK] Garganey | [FR] Sarcelle d'été | [DE] Knäkente | [ES] Cerceta Carretona | [IT] Marzaiola | [NL] Zomertaling
Measurements
spanwidth min.: 59 cm
spanwidth max.: 67 cm
size min.: 37 cm
size max.: 41 cm
Breeding
incubation min.: 21 days
incubation max.: 23 days
fledging min.: 35 days
fledging max.: 40 days
broods 1
eggs min.: 7
eggs max.: 10
Physical characteristics
Small, slightly built, and slender-necked dabbling duck with rather flat crown and straight bill. Males has broad white supercilium, otherwise mottled brown head, breast, upperparts, and stern, contrasting with greyish flanks and white belly, long black and white scapulars, and pale blue-grey forewing. Female resembles female Teal but rather paler and head more patterned, with pale patch at base of longer bill, more distinct dark crown and eyestripe contrasting with light supercilium and further stripe across lower face. Speculum dull green edged in front and more narrowly behind with white. In flight, greyish (but not blue-grey) forewing and indistinct greenish-brown speculum characteristic.
Habitat
Distinguished among genus as fully migratory, whole population changing habitat seasonally throughout west Palearctic. Breeds mainly within Mediterranean, steppe, and temperate climatic zones, with some overspill north into boreal and south into desert fringes. In west Palearctic, makes only brief localized use of marine or even of tidal estuarine habitats. Favours narrow or well compartmented, sheltered, and shallow standing fresh waters, merging into grassland, floodland, or other wetland, with plenty of floating and emergent vegetation, but not too tall or dense, unbroken, fringing cover. Habitat outside breeding season similar, but where suitable equivalents unavailable temporarily uses more exposed and poorer waters, or small ponds, ditches, and irrigation pools.
Other details
This species breeding in the temperate regions of Eurasia is totally migratory, and its European population is wintering entirely in sub-Saharan West Africa. It is still estimated at 2000000 individuals, but seems to decline following loss of habitat in the breeding areas by reclamation of wetlands or transformation into artificial lakes. In Africa also its wintering areas are threatened by reclamation and expansion of rice cultiv
Feeding
Animal and plant materials collected mainly while swimming with head under water, somewhat less often up-ending briefly, and from surface. Often also snaps at individual items on or flying above surface.
Conservation
This species has a large range, with an estimated global Extent of Occurrence of 1,000,000-10,000,000 km². It has a large global population estimated to be 2,500,000-4,800,000 individuals (Wetlands International 2002). Global population trends have not been quantified, but the species is not believed to approach the thresholds for the population decline criterion of the IUCN Red List (i.e. declining more than 30% in ten years or three generations). For these reasons, the species is evaluated as Least Concern. [conservation status from birdlife.org]
Breeding
Nest is build on ground in thick vegetation, grass, or rush tussocks. Usually close to water, within 20 m, rarely over 100 m. The species breeds in single pairs, not colonial. Nest is a shallow depression lined with leaves and grass. Clutch size is 8-9 eggs, rarely 6 or up to 14. Incubation period lasts 21-23 days and is carried out by the female. The young fledge after 35-40 days. This species is sexually mature at 1 year.
Migration
Highly migratory, wintering chiefly in sub-Saharan Africa, Indian subcontinent and SE Asia. Has occurred Azores. Iceland, Hawaii and Aleutian Is; also a few records from North Africa, particularly W coast.
Orden:Anseriformes
Familia:Anatidae
Género:Aix
Nombre común: Pato mandarín macho
Nombre científico:Aix galericulata
Nombre en Ingles:Mandarín Duck male
Lugar de Captura. Beijing, China
Por: Cimarron mayor Panta.
Orden:Anseriformes
Familia:Anatidae
Género:Aix
Nombre común: Pato mandarín macho
Nombre científico:Aix galericulata
Nombre en Ingles:Mandarín Duck male
Lugar de Captura. Beijing, China
Por: Cimarron mayor Panta.
The largest amount of Whoopers I've ever seen in Ireland to date of photograph
www.irishbirding.com/birds/web/Display/sighting/42692/Who...
[order] Anseriformes | [family] Anatidae | [latin] Cygnus cygnus | [UK] Whooper Swan | [FR] Cygne chanteur | [DE] Singschwan | [ES] Cisne Cantor | [IT] Cigno selvatico | [NL] Wilde Zwaan | [IRL] Eala Ghlórach
spanwidth min.: 205 cm
spanwidth max.: 235 cm
size min.: 140 cm
size max.: 160 cm
Breeding
incubation min.: 31 days
incubation max.: 42 days
fledging min.: 78 days
fledging max.: 96 days
broods 1
eggs min.: 3
eggs max.: 5
Physical characteristics
Size is similar to the Mute Swan, but there are noticeable differences. Whooper Swans have a yellow and black beak, a more rigid neck bearing in activiy as well as at rest, and, finally, their wings produce a musical sound when they fly. Their feathers are entirely white and their webbed feet are black. Juveniles show a greyish brown plumage. After one year, they get their adult one.
The Whooper Swan can also be mistaken for the Bewick Swan whose he's very close. There are two ways to differentiate them: the Whooper Swan is much bigger, with a longer neck and a more angulous head, and the beak's yellow/black layout is different. While the Whooper's Swan beak looks globally yellow with just a black tip, the Bewick's Swan's one is mainly black with a yellow base, sometimes half yellow, half black. Unlike the Mute Swan, it never raises its wings above its back when it swims and its neck is straighter.
Habitat
Winters on low agricultural land, generally not far from coast. Breeds in northern zones, on shallow fresh waters: pools, lakes and rivers in wooded country. Rarely in tundra.
Other details
Cygnus cygnus breeds mainly in Iceland, Fennoscandia and northern Russia, but winters patchily across much of Europe, which constitutes >50% of its global wintering range. Its European wintering population is relatively large (>65,000 individuals), and was stable between 1970-1990. Although there were declines in a handful of countries during 1990-2000, most European wintering populations-including key ones in Denmark and Germany-were broadly stable or increased, and the species underwent a large increase overall.
Whooper Swans nest mainly in Eurasian boreal regions. They split in three distinct groups. The most occidental one, with a stable population of about 16 000 individuals, nests in Iceland. The central one nests in Scandinavia and Occidental Russia. It is estimated at 59 000 individuals, regularly increasing. The most oriental group is located in Siberia. Its population, estimated at 17 000 individuals, is probably decreasing. These groups migrate south beginning autumn with the first cold days. The occidental group leaves Iceland for the British Isles, North Sea and Channel coasts, as far as the farthest point of Brittany. The oriental group sets up on Caspian and Black Sea shores. The Scandinavian group is the one that has the shortest migration. During winter, Whooper Swans, like Bewick Swans, spend a great deal of time grazing.
Feeding
Essentially vegetarian. It eats aquatic plants and uses all parts of it (stems, leaves, roots, shoots). It also graze in prairies, like geese. It may eat small invertebrates, but it's a minor part of their diet.
Conservation
This species has a large range, with an estimated global Extent of Occurrence of 10,000,000 km². It has a large global population estimated to be 180,000 individuals (Wetlands International 2002). Global population trends have not been quantified, but the species is not believed to approach the thresholds for the population decline criterion of the IUCN Red List (i.e. declining more than 30% in ten years or three generations). For these reasons, the species is evaluated as Least Concern. [conservation status from birdlife.org]
Breeding
Pairs unite for lifetime. Males are very active in nest building. Their nest is bulky and made essentially with stems and leaves. The bottom is covered with twigs, leaves and feathers. In April-May, the female lays 4 to 7 eggs and sits on for 5 to 6 weeks. Chicks are precocious and are carried on the female's back under the male's aggressive watch and protection. Taking flight occurs 87 to 90 days after hatching.
Migration
Migratory. Part of Icelandic population remains in winter. Migrates southwards to temperate areas, sporadically in more southern latitudes in cold winters; vagrant to USA and Pakistan.
Ordnung:
Anseriformes
Familie :
Anatidae
Gattung:
Anas
Wissenschaftlich :
Anas platyrhynchos
Zitat:
Linnaeus, 1758
Referenz:
Syst.Nat.ed.10 p.125
Protonym:
Anas platyrhynchos
Avibase ID:
D6F5A788399B36E7
Kurzlink:
Taxonomic Serial Number:
TSN: 175063
Afrikaans: Groenkopeend
Arabisch: البُركة, البُركة بو الخصيف, الخضيري
Asturian: Coríu Rial
Aserbaidschanisch: Yaşılbaş ördək
Weißrussisch: Качка-крыжанка, Крыжанка
Bulgarisch: Зеленоглава патица
Bengali: নীলমাথা হাঁস
Bretonisch: An houad-korz, Houad, Houad-korz
Katalanisch: Ànec collverd, Ànec coll-verd, Collverd, Coll-verd
Catalan (Balears): Collverd
Valencian: Coll-verd
Tschechisch: Kachna divoká
Tschuwaschisch: Кăвакал-хай
Walisisch: Cors hwyad, Corshwyaden, Garan hwyad, Hwyaden wyllt
Dänisch: Gråand
Deutsch: Laysanente, Stockente, Stockente-platyrhynchus
Griechisch: [prasinokefali], Πρασινοκέφαλη, Πρασινοκέφαλη Πάπια
Greek (Cypriot): Πρασινοτζέφαλη
Englisch: Common mallard, Green-headed Duck, Green-headed mallard, Greenland, Mallard, Mallard Duck, Mallard or Mexican Duck, Mexican Duck, New Mexican Duck, Northern mallard
English (Kenya): Mallard
English (Philippines): Mallard
Esperanto: Platbeka anaso
Spanisch: Anade Azulón, Ánade azulón, Anade real, Ánade Real, Azulón, Pato Cabeciverde, Pato de Collar, Pato Inglés, Pato Real
Spanish (Argentine): Ánade Real, Azulón
Spanish (Chile): Pato de collar
Spanish (Colombia): Pato doméstico, Pato Real
Spanish (Costa Rica): Pato Cabeciverde
Spanish (Cuba): Pato Inglés
Spanish (Dominican Rep.): Pato Inglés
Spanish (Spain): Ánade Azulón
Spanish (Honduras): Pato de collar
Spanish (Mexico): Pato de Collar
Spanish (Nicaragua): Pato Cabeciverde
Spanish (Panama): Pato Cabeciverde
Spanish (Puerto Rico): Pato Cabeciverde
Spanish (Uruguay): Pato Cabeciverde
Estnisch: sinikael-part
Baskisch: Ànec collverd, Basahate, Basahatea
Finnisch: Heinä- eli sinisorsa, Sinisorsa
Färöisch: Stokkont, Stokk-ont, Villdunna
Französisch: Canard colvert, Canard colvert ou C. du Mexique, Canard malard
Friulisch: Masurin, Mazar, Mazorin, Raze grande
Friesisch: Wylde ein
Irisch: Lacha Fhiáin, Mallard
Gälisch-Schottisch: Lach, Lacha Chinn Naine, Tunnag Fhiadhaich
Galicisch: Alavanco real, Ànec collverd, Lavanco, Pato real
Manx: Laagh Voirrey, Thunnag Feie
Haitian Creole French: Kanna kolvèt
Hebräisch: ברכיה, ברכייה
Kroatisch: Divlja Patka
Ungarisch: Tokés réce, Tõkés réce, Tőkés réce
Armenisch: [Krnchan Bud ], Կռնչան Բադ
Indonesisch: Itik kalung
Isländisch: Stokkönd
Italienisch: Germano reale
Inuktitut: Qeerlutooq
Japanisch: Ao-kubi, Hon-gamo, magamo, Ma-gamo
Japanisch: アオクビ, ホンガモ, マガモ
Japanese (Kanji): 本鴨, 真鴨, 青首
Georgisch: გარეული იხვი
Khakas: Сас öртек, Чазы öртегi
Kasachisch: Барылдауық үйрек
Kazakh (Transliteration): barıldawık üyrek
Koreanisch: 청둥오리
Korean (Transliteration): cheongdung-ori
Kaschmiri: [Nilij]
Kornisch: Hos gwyls, Mallart
Latein: Anas [platyrhynchos or diazi], Anas boschas, Anas platyrhynchos, Anas platyrhynchos or diazi, Anas platyrhynchos platyrhynchos
Luxemburgisch: Wëll Int
Ladin: Anera salvaria
Litauisch: Didžioji antis
Lettisch: Meža pīle
Makedonisch: Дива патка, Патка глуварка
Mongolisch: Зэрлэг нугас
Mongolian (Bichig): ᠵᠠᠷᠯᠢᠭ᠌ ᠨᠣᠭᠣᠰᠣ
Mongolian (Buryat): Һоно нугаһан
Mongolian (Bichig, Inner Mongolia): ᠬᠡᠭᠡᠷ ᠵᠢᠨ ᠨᠣᠭᠣᠰᠣ
Mongolian (Cyrillic, Inner Mongolia): Зэрлэг нугас, Хээрийн нугас
Mongolian (Transliteration): hono nugahan, kheeriŋ nugas, zerleg nug as, zerleg nugas
Malaiisch: Itik Melewar
Maltesisch: Kuluvert
Niederländisch: Wilde eend
Norwegisch: Blåhals, Grasand, Stokkand
Polnisch: krzyzówka, Krzyżówka, Krzyżówka zwyczajna
Pinyin: chén wù, dà hóng-tuǐ yā, dà lǜ-tóu, dà má-yā, dà yě-yā, duì yā, fú, guān yā, lǜ-tóu yā, qīng biān, yě-wù, yě-yā
Portugiesisch: pato real, Pato-real
Portuguese (Portugal): Pato-real
Romansh: Anda selvadia
Rumänisch: Divlio-ratsa, Divlio-ratsoy, Raţă mare
Zigeunersprache: Divlio-ratsoy
Russisch: Kryakva, Кряква, Кряква обыкновенная, Обыкновенная кряква
Sardisch: Anadi conca birdi, Conchirde, Testirde
Schottisch: Lach, Lacha chinn naine, Tounag
Nordsamisch: Suoidnesuorsi
Slowakisch: Kačica divá
Slowenisch: mlakarica, raca mlakarica
Albanisch: Kuqla qafëgjelbër, Rosa e vëndit, Rosë e egër
Serbisch: Divlja patka, divlja patka gluvara, gluvara, Глувара, Дивлја патка, Дивља патка, Патка глувара
Schwedisch: Gräsand, gräsand/mexikansk and
Thailändisch: เป็ดมาลลาร์ด, เป็ดหัวเขียว
Thai (Transliteration): pèt hŭa-kʰĭaw, pèt maanlâad
Turkmenisch: yeşilbaş
Türkisch: Yeşilbaş, Yeşilbaş Ördek, Барылдауық үйрек
Tuwinisch: бос, Черлик өдурек, Чыргырааш өдурек
Ukrainisch: Крижень
Vietnamesisch: Le le, Vịt cổ xanh, Vịt mỏ vàng, Vịt nước
Sorbian, Lower: Źiwa kacka
Sorbian, Upper: Dźiwja kačka
Chinesisch: [chen wu], [da hong-tui ya], [da ma-ya], [da ye-ya], [fu], [lu-tou ya], [qing bian], [ye-wu], [ye-ya], 凫, 大红腿鸭, 大绿头, 大野鸭, 大麻鸭, 官鸭, 对鸭, 晨骛, 沉骛, 綠頭鴨, 绿头鸭, 野骛, 野鸭, 青边
Chinese (Traditional): 大紅腿鴨, 大綠頭, 大野鴨, 大麻鴨, 官鴨, 對鴨, 晨騖, 沉騖, 綠頭鴨, 野騖, 野鴨, 青邊, 鳧
Chinese (Taiwan, Traditional): 綠頭鴨
Chinese (Taiwan): [lu-tou ya], 綠頭鴨, 绿头鸭
Mallard duck
El ánade real o #azulón (Anas platyrhynchos) es una especie de ave anseriforme de la familia Anatidae. Es un #pato de superficie común y muy extendido. Habita áreas de temperatura templada de Norteamérica, Europa y Asia. También frecuenta Centroamérica y el Caribe. Probablemente es el más conocido de todos los patos.
El macho tiene la cabeza verde azulada, pico amarillo, pecho pardo o castaño, collar blanco, cuerpo gris y popa negra. La hembra es de colores más apagados en pardo oscuro, se parece a otros patos (sobre todo al ánade friso), pero su mayor tamaño, el color anaranjado y oscuro en el pico y el espejuelo azul y blanco son característicos. Ambos sexos tienen espejuelos azul-morado.
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Lugar de Captura /Taken: Rotary St-Anselme Park, Dieppe, NB.
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The #mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) is a large wading bird of the family #Anatidae #Anseriformes. It is a common duck and widespread surface. It inhabits warm temperate areas of North America, Europe and Asia. Also frequents Central America and the Caribbean. Probably the best known of all ducks.
The male has bluish green head, yellow beak, brown or chestnut breast, white necklace, gray body and black stern. The female is duller colors in dark brown, other ducks (especially the Gadwall), but its larger size, the color orange and dark blue beak and white speculum and looks are characteristic. Both sexes have blue-purple glasses.
Scientific classification
Kingdom:Animalia
Phylum:Chordata
Class:Aves
Order:Anseriformes
Family:Anatidae
Genus:Anas
Species:A. platyrhynchos
Binomial name
Anas platyrhynchos
Mallard-9331
David Wisner of Washington, D.C., pets Geena, a two-year-old Chesapeake Bay retriever owned by hunting guide Greg Cole, left, near a hunting blind at Chino Farms in Chestertown, Md., on Jan. 15, 2016. At over 5,000 acres, Chino Farms was the largest single land preservation deal in Maryland's history. (Photo by Will Parson/Chesapeake Bay Program)
USAGE REQUEST INFORMATION
The Chesapeake Bay Program's photographic archive is available for media and non-commercial use at no charge. To request permission, send an email briefly describing the proposed use to requests@chesapeakebay.net. Please do not attach jpegs. Instead, reference the corresponding Flickr URL of the image.
A photo credit mentioning the Chesapeake Bay Program is mandatory. The photograph may not be manipulated in any way or used in any way that suggests approval or endorsement of the Chesapeake Bay Program. Requestors should also respect the publicity rights of individuals photographed, and seek their consent if necessary.
(Aythya ferina)
Estavayer-le-lac
Switzerland // Suiça
Nikon 1 v3 + Nikkor VR 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 CX
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All my photos are now organized into sets by the country where they were taken, by taxonomic order, by family, by species (often with just one photo for the rarer ones), and by the date they were taken.
So, you may find:
- All the photos for this order ANSERIFORMES
- All the photos for this family Anatidae (Anatídeos)
- All the photos for this species Aythya ferina
- All the photos taken this day 2015/06/25
==================***==================
Hunting guide Greg Cole, left, collects geese shot at Chino Farms in Chestertown, Md., on Jan. 15, 2016. At over 5,000 acres, Chino Farms was the largest single land preservation deal in Maryland's history. (Photo by Will Parson/Chesapeake Bay Program)
USAGE REQUEST INFORMATION
The Chesapeake Bay Program's photographic archive is available for media and non-commercial use at no charge. To request permission, send an email briefly describing the proposed use to requests@chesapeakebay.net. Please do not attach jpegs. Instead, reference the corresponding Flickr URL of the image.
A photo credit mentioning the Chesapeake Bay Program is mandatory. The photograph may not be manipulated in any way or used in any way that suggests approval or endorsement of the Chesapeake Bay Program. Requestors should also respect the publicity rights of individuals photographed, and seek their consent if necessary.
Botanical Gardens
Dublin 01-03-2020
Scientific classification
Kingdom:Animalia
Phylum:Chordata
Class:Aves
Order:Anseriformes
Family:Anatidae
Genus:Aix
Species:A. galericulata
Binomial name
Aix galericulata
The Mandarin duck (Aix galericulata), or just Mandarin, is a perching duck species found in East Asia. It is medium-sized, at 41–49 cm (16–19 in) long with a 65–75 cm (26–30 in) wingspan. As the other member of the genus Aix, it is closely related to the North American wood duck.
The adult male is a striking and unmistakable bird. It has a red bill, large white crescent above the eye and reddish face and "whiskers". The breast is purple with two vertical white bars, and the flanks ruddy, with two orange "sails" at the back. The female is similar to female wood duck, with a white eye-ring and stripe running back from the eye, but is paler below, has a small white flank stripe, and a pale tip to its bill.[2]
Mandarin ducklings are almost identical in appearance to wood ducklings, and very similar to mallard ducklings. The ducklings can be distinguished from mallard ducklings because the eye-stripe of Mandarin ducklings (and wood ducklings) stops at the eye, while in mallard ducklings it reaches all the way to the bill.
The species was once widespread in East Asia, but large-scale exports and the destruction of its forest habitat have reduced populations in eastern Russia and in China to below 1,000 pairs in each country; Japan, however, is thought to still hold some 5,000 pairs. The Asian populations are migratory, overwintering in lowland eastern China and southern Japan.[4]
Specimens frequently escape from collections, and in the 20th century a large feral population was established in Great Britain; more recently small numbers have bred in Ireland, concentrated in the parks of Dublin. There are now about 7,000 in Britain, and other populations on the European continent, the largest in the region of Berlin.[5] Isolated populations exist in the United States. The town of Black Mountain, North Carolina has a limited population,[6] and there is a free-flying feral population of several hundred Mandarins in Sonoma County, California. This population is the result of several Mandarin ducks escaping from captivity, then going on to reproduce in the wild.[2]
The habitats it prefers in its breeding range are the dense, shrubby forested edges of rivers and lakes. It mostly occurs in low-lying areas, but it may breed in valleys at altitudes of up to 1,500 m (4,900 ft). In winter, it additionally occurs in marshes, flooded fields, and open rivers. While it prefers freshwater, it may also be seen wintering in coastal lagoons and estuaries. In its introduced European range, it lives in more open habitat than in its native range, around the edges lakes, water meadows, and cultivated areas with woods nearby
In the wild, Mandarin ducks breed in densely wooded areas near shallow lakes, marshes or ponds. They nest in cavities in trees close to water and during the spring, the females lay their eggs in the tree's cavity after mating. A single clutch of nine to twelve eggs is laid in April or May. Although the male may defend the brooding female and his eggs during incubation, he himself does not incubate the eggs and leaves before they hatch. Shortly after the ducklings hatch, their mother flies to the ground and coaxes the ducklings to leap from the nest. After all of the ducklings are out of the tree, they will follow their mother to a nearby body of water.
Mandarins feed by dabbling or walking on land. They mainly eat plants and seeds, especially beech mast. The species will also add snails, insects and small fish to its diet.[7] The diet of Mandarin ducks changes seasonally; in the fall and winter, they mostly eat acorns and grains. In the spring, they mostly eat insects, snails, fish and aquatic plants. In the summer, they eat dew worms, small fish, frogs, mollusks, and small snakes.[8] They feed mainly near dawn or dusk, perching in trees or on the ground during the day
Mute Swan, Order Anseriformes, Family Anatidae, Species Cygnus olor,..
A large, familiar bird, strikingly white and obvious even at great range, Mute Swan is generally quite tame, even semi-domesticated in its behaviour and choice of habitat.
Territorial pairs are aggressive, even to people or their dogs, using impressive displays of arched wings and loud, hissing calls.
In some floodplains, small groups regularly feed on dry land, a habit that is more consistent with the two " wild swans ", Bewick's and Whooper,
Voice - Strangled trumpeting and hissing notes,
Nesting - Huge pile of vegetation at water's edge; up to 8 eggs; 1 brood; March - June.
Feeding - Plucks vegetable matter from short grass in fields and salt marshes, pulls the same from shallow water, or upends in deeper water,..
Length 1.4 - 1.6m,
Wingspan - 2,08 - 2.38m,
Weight - 10 - 12kg,
Lifespan - 15 - 20 years,
Social - Small flocks,
Status - Secure,..
(Anas platyrhynchos)
Marginal de gaia
Rio Douro
Portugal
==================***==================
All my photos are now organized into sets by the country where they were taken, by taxonomic order, by family, by species (often with just one photo for the rarer ones), and by the date they were taken.
So, you may find:
- All the photos for this order ANSERIFORMES
- All the photos for this family Anatidae (Anatídeos)
- All the photos for this species Anas platyrhynchos
==================***==================
Long-Tailed Duck (Clangula hyemalis)
[order] Anseriformes | [family] Anatidae | [latin] Clangula hyemalis | [UK] Long-Tailed Duck | [FR] Harelde kakawi | [DE] Eisente | [ES] Havelda | [IT] Moretta codona | [NL] Ijseend
Measurements
spanwidth min.: 70 cm
spanwidth max.: 74 cm
size min.: 38 cm
size max.: 58 cm
Breeding
incubation min.: 24 days
incubation max.: 29 days
fledging min.: 35 days
fledging max.: 50 days
broods 1
eggs min.: 6
eggs max.: 10
Physical characteristics
The Long-tailed Duck is a distinctive sea duck with a short bill and heavy body. The short, pointed, all-dark wings of the Long-tailed Duck are evident in all sexes and plumages. In breeding plumage, the male has a long, black tail-plume, a white rump and belly, and black breast. The head and back are black, with brown shoulders and a white patch around the eye. In winter the brown on the back is replaced by white, and the head is white with a gray cheek-patch. In spring, the female is gray with a white rump, and white around the eye and at the nape of the neck. In winter, she has a white face with dark crown and cheek-patch. The juvenile is similar to the female--gray with white, although it has more white on its face than the female.
Long-tailed Ducks dive and swim under water, and, while they propel themselves with their feet like other ducks, their wings are sometimes partly opened under water. Most feeding is done within 30 feet of the surface, but they are capable of diving more than 200 feet below the surface. Long-tailed Ducks fly low with stiff and shallow wing-beats, often tilting from side to side.
Habitat
Long-tailed Ducks breed in shallow tundra ponds and lakes. During other seasons, Long-tailed Ducks can be found on the ocean over sandy substrates. They prefer sheltered water, but can be found on the open ocean as well.
Other details
Clangula hyemalis is a widespread breeder in northernmost Europe, which accounts for less than half of its global breeding range. Its European breeding population is large (>690,000 pairs), and was stable between 1970-1990. Although trends in Greenland, Iceland and Sweden during 1990-2000 were unknown, populations were stable elsewhere-including in the Russian stronghold-and the species probably remained stable overall.
This duck has a wide distribution at high latitudes in Eurasia and North America. Most of the birds inhabiting northern Europe are wintering in the Baltic Sea. This population is estimated at 4.5 millions of individuals, but only a few thousand reach the Wadden Sea and only stragglers are recorded more south, especially in hard winters. The birds of Greenland and Iceland reach the west of the British islands. This population is estimated at 150000 individuals. Both populations seems stable (Scott & Rose), despite the fact that some decrease has been reported from Scandinavia and that the bird is sensitive to oil pollution of the s
Feeding
For Long-tailed Ducks at sea, mollusks and crustaceans are the main source of food. In summer, aquatic insects, other aquatic invertebrates, and some plant material are eaten.
Conservation
This species has a large range, with an estimated global Extent of Occurrence of 100,000-1,000,000 km². It has a large global population estimated to be 7,200,000-7,800,000 individuals (Wetlands International 2002). Global population trends have not been quantified, but the species is not believed to approach the thresholds for the population decline criterion of the IUCN Red List (i.e. declining more than 30% in ten years or three generations). For these reasons, the species is evaluated as Least Concern. [conservation status from birdlife.org]
Breeding
Most female Long-tailed Ducks first breed at the age of two. Pair bonds are established in the winter, or during the spring migration, and last until incubation begins. The nest is located on dry ground close to the water, often hidden in the undergrowth or among rocks. It is a depression lined with plant material and great quantities of down that the female adds to the nest after she begins laying. She usually lays from 6 to 11 eggs and incubates them for 24 to 29 days. Shortly after hatching, the young leave the nest and can swim and dive well. The female tends them and may dislodge food items for them when she is diving, but they feed themselves. They first fly at 35 to 40 days.
Migration
Migratory and partially migratory. winters mainly offshore between 55 degrees North and 75 degrees North and in Baltic Sea. Icelandic breeders are partial migrants, some remaining to winter around coasts, others moving to southern Greenland. Baltic Sea appears to be the most important wintering area in west Palearctic. Though extensive moult migration occurs in east Siberia, in west Palearctic males moult on coasts and lakes close to breeding areas either solitarily or in small flocks. Movements beginning late June to early July. Large flocks build up August-September as females and young desert breeding areas. Some reach south Sweden mid-September, but overland passage from White Sea to Gulf of Finland mostly 1st half October. Main influx to west Baltic November or December. Return movement North and Baltic Seas from mid-March, with major overland passage towards White Sea in May. They return to breeding areas dependent on thaw, late April or early May in Iceland, mid-May to mid-June in Russian tundras.
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Greater Scaup (Aythya marila)
[order] Anseriformes | [family] Anatidae | [latin] Aythya marila | [UK] Greater Scaup | [FR] Fuligule milouinan | [DE] Bergente | [ES] Porrón Bastardo | [IT] Moretta grigia | [NL] Topper
Measurements
spanwidth min.: 71 cm
spanwidth max.: 80 cm
size min.: 42 cm
size max.: 51 cm
Breeding
incubation min.: 26 days
incubation max.: 28 days
fledging min.: 40 days
fledging max.: 45 days
broods 1
eggs min.: 8
eggs max.: 13
Physical characteristics
The male Greater Scaup has white flanks, a black rump and breast, and barred gray back. He has a green-black iridescent head and light gray-blue bill. The adult in its second year has a yellow eye. The male in non-breeding plumage has a black head and breast, brown body, and black rump. The female is brownish overall, also with a yellow eye after the age of two. The female also has a white semi-circle at the base of the beak. The Greater and Lesser Scaup can be difficult to distinguish in the field. The Greater Scaup averages about 10% longer and 20% heavier than the Lesser Scaup. The Lesser Scaup has a peaked, angular head that the Greater Scaup lacks. The Greater Scaup has a larger bill with a more pronounced nail (tip of the bill) than the Lesser Scaup. Seen in flight, the white on the wings of the Greater Scaup extends into the primaries, where it is gray on the Lesser Scaup. Habitat, range, and season may help differentiate between the two species, as well as using a field guide and working with experienced observers.
Outside of the breeding season, Greater Scaup form large flocks or rafts, numbering in the thousands. In tidal waters, they tend to face up-current. While individuals may drift downstream, birds from the back of the flock fly to the front, maintaining the raft in the same position. A diver, the Greater Scaup catches its food under water, but eats it on the surface. Occasionally scaups forage at or near the water's surface as well.
Habitat
The Greater Scaup is the more northerly of the two species of North American Scaup. In the summer, they breed on marshy, lowland tundra at the northern limits of the boreal forest. In winter, they gather in coastal bays, lagoons, and estuaries, with some wintering on inland lakes. While the Greater Scaup does overlap with the Lesser Scaup in winter, it tends to frequent more open, exposed areas.
Other details
Aythya marila breeds in northern Europe, and winters mainly in north-western Europe and the Black Sea, which together account for less than half of its global wintering range. Its European wintering population is large (>120,000 individuals), and was stable between 1970-1990. Although most wintering populations were broadly stable during 1990-2000, there were substantial declines in north-western Europe, and the species probably underwent a very large decline (>50%) overall.
This duck has a wide distribution at high latitudes in Eurasia and North America. In Europe its mainly marine wintering area is reaching the Mediterranean and the Black Sea, but most birds winter in the Baltic and North Seas. This north-western European population is estimated at 310000 individuals. A decline has been recorded in the British Isles and in Denmark; an increase in the Netherlands and Germany. Its global trends are unknown
Feeding
Mollusks and plant material are both important components of the Greater Scaup's diet. In the summer, aquatic insects and crustaceans are also eaten.
Conservation
This species has a large range, with an estimated global Extent of Occurrence of 1,000,000-10,000,000 km². It has a large global population estimated to be 1,100,000-1,400,000 individuals (Wetlands International 2002). Global population trends have not been quantified, but the species is not believed to approach the thresholds for the population decline criterion of the IUCN Red List (i.e. declining more than 30% in ten years or three generations). For these reasons, the species is evaluated as Least Concern. [conservation status from birdlife.org]
Breeding
While Greater Scaup may nest at one year of age, they are more likely to begin breeding at the age of two. Pair formation begins in late winter or early spring on the wintering grounds and during migration back to the breeding grounds. The pair bond lasts until the female begins to incubate, and then the male leaves. Nests are located close to the water on an island, shoreline, or floating mat of vegetation, often close together in loose colonies. The female makes a shallow depression lined with grass. During incubation, the female adds down to the nest. Incubation of the 6 to 9 eggs lasts for 23 to 28 days. Soon after they hatch, the female leads the young to the water. Multiple broods may form small crèches and be tended by one or more females. The young can swim and find their own food immediately, but can't fly until about 40 to 45 days old
Migration
Migratory, winters along coasts of North America (Atlantic and Pacific), NW Europe, Black and Caspian Seas and Japan, Yellow and East China seas. At some localities (e.g. Central Europe, Great lakes of North America) also inland. Males to remain much further N than females or immatures
El ánade real o azulón (Anas platyrhynchos) es una especie de ave anseriforme de la familia Anatidae. Es un pato de superficie común y muy extendido. Habita áreas de temperatura subtropical de Norteamérica, Europa y Asia. También frecuenta Centroamérica y el Caribe. Probablemente es el más conocido de todos los patos.
Es un ave muy gregaria, bastante arisca y desconfiada, que raramente permite el acercamiento a corta distancia, siendo normalmente el primer pato que huye ante la presencia humana. Se agrupa para sestear durante el día y por la noche se desplaza a los comederos. Su gran capacidad de adaptación y aprovechamiento de distintas fuentes de alimentos son las razones de su numerosa población, que crece cada año. Se ha observado una conducta necrofílica homosexual en su actividad sexual.
Fuente: Wikipedia
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The Mallard, or Wild duck (Anas platyrhynchos[1]), probably the best-known and most recognizable of all ducks, is a dabbling duck which breeds throughout the temperate and sub-tropical areas of North America, Europe, Asia, New Zealand (where it is currently the most common duck species), and Australia. It is strongly migratory in the northern parts of its breeding range, and winters farther south. For example, in North America it winters south to Mexico, but also regularly strays into Central America and the Caribbean between September and May.[2]
The male birds have bright green head, while the female is light brown. The Mallard lives in wetlands, eats water plants, and is gregarious. The Mallard is the ancestor of all domestic ducks, and can interbreed with other species of genus Anas. This interbreeding is causing rarer species of ducks to become genetically diluted.
The Mallard inhabits most wetlands, including parks, small ponds and rivers, and usually feeds by dabbling for plant food or grazing; there are reports of it eating frogs. It usually nests on a river bank, but not always near water. It is highly gregarious outside of the breeding season and will form large flocks, which are known as a sord.[4]
Mallards form pairs only until the female lays eggs, at which time she is left by the male. The clutch is 8–13 eggs, which are incubated for 27–28 days to hatching with 50–60 days to fledgling. The ducklings are precocial, and can swim and feed themselves on insects as soon as they hatch, although they stay near the female for protection.
When they pair off with mating partners, often one or several drakes will end up "left out". This group will sometimes target an isolated female duck — chasing, pestering and pecking at her until she weakens (a phenomenon referred to by researchers as rape flight), at which point each male will take turns copulating with the female. Male Mallards will also occasionally chase other males in the same way. (In one documented case, a male Mallard copulated with another male he was chasing after said male had been killed when he flew into a glass window.
Source: Wikipedia
Harlequin Ducks, Green Point
Washington Park, Anacortes, Washington 4 Dec 2004
Histrionicus histrionicus
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Anseriformes
Family: Anatidae
Genus: Histrionicus
Lesson, 1828
Species: H. histrionicus
DSCN4797z
Thanks for your visit… Any comment you make on my photographs is greatly appreciated and encouraging! But please do not use this image without permission.
Wood/Carolina Duck on Quarry Lake, Phoenix Park, Dublin
[order] Anseriformes | [family] Anatidae | [latin] Aix sponsa | [UK] Wood Duck | [FR] Canard branchu | [DE] Brautente | [ES] Pato de la Florida | [IT] Anatra sposa | [NL] Carolinaeend
Measurements
spanwidth min.: 70 cm
spanwidth max.: 73 cm
size min.: 47 cm
size max.: 54 cm
Breeding
incubation min.: 31 days
incubation max.: 35 days
fledging min.: 56 days
fledging max.: 70 days
broods 1
eggs min.: 9
eggs max.: 14
Physical characteristics
Wood Ducks are intermediate in size, between the Mallard and Blue-winged Teal; on average, males weigh 680 g and females weigh 460 g. From a distance, the male Wood Duck on the water appears as a dark-bodied, dark-breasted, light-flanked duck with a striped crested head and a light-coloured throat. At close range, its iridescent plumage, red eyes, and black, red, and white bill are conspicuous. A white eye-ring, light-coloured throat, and fine crest distinguish the female from both the male Wood Duck and females of other species. Both sexes usually show a downward pointing crest at the back of the head, and their long broad square tails are distinctive features in flight.
The wings of Wood Ducks are highly characteristic. The primary wing feathers, which are the 10 outermost flight feathers attached to the wing beyond the wrist, are dark in colour. The outer vanes of these feathers look as if they have been sprayed with aluminum paint. The Wood Duck is the only North American duck so marked.
In most cases it is possible to distinguish immature from mature ducks and to tell males from females by their wings alone. In the Wood Duck, as in other ducks, the feathers of that year's young are finer, more pointed and worn, and less colourful than those of adults. Females show a few small feathers on the upper surface of the wing that are purplish and have the same lustre as oil on water. These feathers are absent in males. The white tips on the feathers along the trailing edge of the wing are usually teardrop-shaped in the female, but either straight or V-shaped in the male. By studying the wings of ducks taken by hunters, biologists can determine the ratio of young to adult ducks in the population and thereby measure waterfowl production.
The Wood Duck is a distinctively North American species. Its only close relative is the Mandarin Duck of eastern Asia. Evidently the Wood Duck originated in North America, as fossil remains have been found only in widely scattered locations in the eastern part of the continent.
Habitat
Like other perching ducks, Wood Ducks nest in trees. Preferred nesting sites are holes in hollow trunks or large branches that result from broken limbs, fire scars, lightning and logging damage. They also use cavities created by large woodpeckers such as the Pileated Woodpecker. Nests are situated from 1 to 15 m above ground, in trees more than 40 cm in diameter. They are usually found close to water, although females sometimes select trees some distance from water.
Other details
In Canada, the Wood Duck nests in scattered locations in the southern parts of all provinces; however, there is only one breeding record for Newfoundland and Labrador. The most extensive breeding ranges are in Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, and British Columbia. This duck occurs over a much wider area in late summer and early autumn, as a result of post-breeding dispersal. Although most Wood Ducks migrate to the United States, a few may spend the winter in extreme southern Ontario and southeastern British Columbia.
The Wood Duck is much more widely distributed in the United States, where it nests in areas east of the Mississippi River, along the lower Missouri River into South Dakota, in eastern Texas, along the Pacific coast, and in a few other places. It winters mainly along the Atlantic coast from New York south, along the Gulf coast into central Texas, to the lower Mississippi River valley and western California. A few winter in Mexico south to Distrito Federal. In Europe all sightings are of escaped birds.
Feeding
The Wood Duck is mainly a herbivore, or vegetarian, with plant foods making up about 90 percent of its diet. Foods vary according to their local availability, but duckweeds, cypress seeds, sedges, grasses, pondweeds, and acorns are among the more important foods throughout North America. In recent years corn has assumed a greater importance as small groups of Wood Ducks engage in field feeding behaviour similar to that of dabbling ducks, such as Mallards.
Ducklings require a high protein diet for rapid growth. Invertebrates such as dragonflies, bugs, beetles, and spiders are important foods during the first few weeks of life, so high populations of these small creatures are essential in habitats where the young will hatch and develop.
Conservation
This species has a large range, with an estimated global Extent of Occurrence of 6,200,000 km². It has a large global population estimated to be 3,500,000 individuals (Wetlands International 2002). Global population trends have not been quantified, but the species is not believed to approach the thresholds for the population decline criterion of the IUCN Red List (i.e. declining more than 30% in ten years or three generations). For these reasons, the species is evaluated as Least Concern. [conservation status from birdlife.org]
Breeding
The female Wood Duck breeds when one year old. She lines the nest with down, or fine feathers, taken from her breast, and lays eight to 15 dull-white to cream-coloured eggs. She incubates, or keeps the eggs warm, for 28 to 30 days until they hatch. During unusually cold weather, or if the female is away from the nest for an abnormally long time, incubation may require a few extra days.
Upon hatching, usually in June in eastern Canada, the young use their sharp claws to climb up the inside of the nesting cavity to its entrance, then jump and flutter to the ground, generally landing unharmed. The female guides them to the nearest water, where they will spend the next eight to nine weeks hunting for food together.
Shortly after the female begins incubation the male loses interest in family affairs and spends more time away from the nest. He joins other males, which eventually form large groups. As mid-summer approaches, the males begin the move to remote, undisturbed, sheltered places to moult, or shed old feathers. To reach these areas, they may travel great distances; many thousands migrate to southeastern Canada from breeding grounds in the northern states. On arrival the moult begins, and by August the brilliant spring feathers of the male have been replaced by a plumage similar to that of the female. Then, all at once, the flight feathers are moulted, leaving the male flightless for approximately four weeks while new feathers grow in.
Soon after the ducklings have fledged, or taken their first flight, usually by mid-August in eastern Canada, the females leave their broods, move a short distance, and undergo their moult. Like the males, they too seek out remote, undisturbed swamps and marshes and become flightless for a short period.
In late summer and early autumn, the young with their newly acquired powers of flight and the adults with their recently replaced flight feathers move in a leisurely way about the northern parts of their range. Their principal concern is to store up energy, in the form of fat, in preparation for the soon-to-come fall migration.
Migration
Wood Ducks migrate north to their Canadian breeding grounds, arriving there by April. Pair formation may occur on the wintering grounds before or during spring migration, or on the breeding grounds if one of the pair is lost. Mated pairs seek out secluded swamps or beaver ponds that provide water, nesting sites, brooding habitat, and feeding areas. Females often return to the same general area in which they were hatched.
By the first severe frost, usually in late September or early October in eastern Canada, Wood Ducks begin to head for the southeastern United States. Southern populations of Wood Ducks, particularly females, are less migratory. Populations in the interior of British Columbia migrate to the west coast, whereas Wood Ducks that live on the coast do not migrate at all. Has occurred Bermuda (regular), Azores and Alaska. Many sightings from Europe, presumed escapes.
[order] Anseriformes | [family] Anatidae | [latin] Anas penelope | [UK] Wigeon | [FR] Canard siffleur | [DE] Pfeifente | [ES] Ánade Silbón | [IT] Fischione europeo | [NL] Smient
spanwidth min.: 71 cm
spanwidth max.: 85 cm
size min.: 42 cm
size max.: 50 cm
Breeding
incubation min.: 24 days
incubation max.: 25 days
fledging min.: 40 days
fledging max.: 45 days
broods 1
eggs min.: 7
eggs max.: 9
Physical characteristics
This winter visitor from Siberia is a close relative of the American Wigeon. The male Eurasian Wigeon in breeding plumage has a salmon-colored breast, pale gray body, and black undertail coverts. His head is dark rufous with a yellowish forehead. The wing has a green speculum with white coverts (the white is absent on the female), much like the American Wigeon. Juveniles and males in eclipse plumage (from July to September) look like the female. Female Eurasian and American Wigeons appear very similar, but the female Eurasian lacks the black border at the base of the bill. The main features that distinguish the Eurasian Wigeon from the American Wigeon are the gray sides and the russet face-markings. The Eurasian Wigeon hybridizes occasionally with the American Wigeon, and these birds, which show a mixture of characteristics, are seen in Washington with regularity.
Habitat
When breeding, concentrated in boreal and subarctic zones with slight overlap into temperate and fairly numerous occurrences, often sporadic, in steppe zone. Prefers shallow, open, broad, fresh waters, of medium quality, neither strongly eutrophic nor oligotrophic, with ample submerged or floating vegetation but without dense, emergent or marginal stands. Predominantly lowland, within continental climatic zone; tolerant of open woodland and preferring wooded to open tundra, but thinning out towards dense forest and mountains. Uses good nesting cover in coniferous or deciduous wooded areas, as well as steppes, both near and fairly distant from water. Avoidance of extreme arctic climates permits early summer occupancy of breeding grounds and early departure, with rapid return movement in early autumn.
Winter habitat mainly in oceanic climates, lowland and largely maritime, especially along coasts where shallow, fairly sheltered waters and extensive tracts of tidal mud, sand, or salt-marsh offer sustenance and security for gatherings. Freshwater and brackish lagoons, and tracts of flooded grassland also attractive, and may be used in preference to coastal waters.
Other details
Anas penelope breeds in northern Europe, and winters in coastal areas of the Mediterranean, the Black Sea and north-west Europe, which together probably hold >50% of its global population. Its European wintering population is very large (>1,700,000 individuals), and underwent a moderate increase between 1970-1990. Although there were substantial declines in Spain and Azerbaijan during 1990-2000, wintering populations were stable or increased across the rest of Europe, and the species was probably stable overall.
Except for Scotland, where it is sedentary, in the European Union (12 Members States) it is only known as a passage migrant or wintering bird. The population wintering around the North Sea is totalling 1250000 individuals, and is definitely increasing. These birds originate from Scandinavia and European Russia. Normally they don't move farther south as Bretagne, but during strong winters they reach Spain in large numbers. The population wintering in the Black Sea and Mediterranean regions is estimated at 560000 individuals, and is declining. These birds probably have a more eastern origin, and are less subjected to spectacular winter movements.
Feeding
Almost entirely vegetarian, mainly leaves, stems, stolons, bulbils, and rhizomes; also some seeds and occasionally animal materials. Obtained on land, by grazing while walking; on water, from surface; less often, under water by immersing head and neck.
The foraging strategies of the Eurasian Wigeon include picking food from the surface of shallow water, grazing in upland areas, and feeding on vegetation brought up by coots and diving ducks.
Conservation
This species has a large range, with an estimated global Extent of Occurrence of 10,000,000 km². It has a large global population estimated to be 2,800,000-3,300,000 individuals (Wetlands International 2002). Global population trends have not been quantified, but the species is not believed to approach the thresholds for the population decline criterion of the IUCN Red List (i.e. declining more than 30% in ten years or three generations). For these reasons, the species is evaluated as Least Concern. [conservation status from birdlife.org]
Breeding
Eurasian Wigeons are known to breed only in Europe and Asia, although they are likely to be found breeding in North America eventually. They nest on the ground under dense vegetation, usually near water. The nest is a shallow depression lined with grass and down. The female incubates 8 to 9 eggs for 24 to 25 days. The young leave the nest and head for water shortly after hatching. They find their own food, although the female continues to tend them until they fledge at 40 to 45 days.
Migration
This species is ighly migratory, except for some local resident populations in west Europe. A few resident populations exist Iceland and Scotland, but most winter Ireland and Britain. Smaller numbers reaching other North Sea countries, France, and Iberia. British breeders apparently mostly resident or make short south-west movements. Breeding populations of Fenno-Scandia and Russia migrate east to lower Yenisey basin and south to winter quarters in west and south-west Europe. Annually and very frequently wintering in Germany, Netherlands, Britain, Ireland, France, and to lesser extent Iberia. Those breeding west and central Siberia winter on Caspian and Black Seas. Also west to Mediterranean, especially Turkey, Greece, north Italy, and south France. Those reaching north Africa (notably Tunisia) are probably also from west-central Siberian population.
Moult migration reported from widely separated areas. Males leave breeding grounds early and move to moulting localities where they join the immature non-breeders. European moult gatherings are notably in Estonia, south Sweden, Denmark and the Netherlands. Typically the species forms flocks in August. Mass departures from breeding areas occur in September, main arrivals in the winter quarters mostly in October-November. Departure from North and Black Seas from mid-March to early April, but earlier in mild winters.
Aves
Anseriformes
Anatidae
Anas platyrhynchos
Mallard
In small pond just north of Lake, reflecting fall colors
Rockland Lake State Park
Rockland Co., NY
[order] Anseriformes | [family] Anatidae | [latin] Somateria mollissima | [UK] Eider | [FR] Eider à duvet | [DE] Eiderente | [ES] Eider | [IT] Edredone | [NL] Eider | [IRL] Éadar
spanwidth min.: 95 cm
spanwidth max.: 105 cm
size min.: 60 cm
size max.: 70 cm
Breeding
incubation min.: 25 days
incubation max.: 28 days
fledging min.: 65 days
fledging max.: 75 days
broods 1
eggs min.: 4
eggs max.: 7
Status: Resident along rocky coasts in the north and north-west of Ireland.
Conservation Concern: Amber-listed in Ireland due to the majority of Eiders wintering at less than ten sites.The European population is regarded as Secure.
Identification: Large and heavy-built, with short neck, large head, long wedge-shaped bill. Birds seen in irregular - loose clusters. Males largely white with black belly, sides and stern. Head white with black crown, and pale green on sides of the nape.
Similar Species: Adult male is unmistakable. Females and immature resemble other duck species.
Call: Male with cooing display-call, and a far carrying 'a-ooh-e'.
Diet: They generally feed by diving in waters up to 20 m depth, feeding predominantly on mussels, other molluscs, crustaceans and echinoderms.
Breeding: Eider nest colonially on offshore islets, along low-lying coast, usually where the threat of mammalian predation is minimal. Eider seldom occur far from the sea throughout the year. They breed around the coast of Scotland and northern England and along the north and northwest coasts of Ireland. Up to 100 pairs have been estimated in Ireland.
Wintering: Occurs on shallow, inshore coastal waters, near estuary mouths mostly along the northwest and northeast coastlines.
Where to See: Belfast Lough in County Down and Outer Ards in County Down regularly supports almost 1,000 & 500 birds respectively. Lough Foyle in County Derry, Strangford Lough in County Down, Larne Lough in County Antrim and the Streedagh Estuary in County Sligo are other well-used wintering sites.
Physical characteristics
The Common Eider Somateria mollissima is the largest duck in the northern hemisphere. It weighs an average of 1 800 g, but its weight can vary from 850 to 3 025 g depending on race, sex, and time of year. There are four Common Eider races in North America; subtle differences in body size and bill structure distinguish each race from the other.
The plumage of the Common Eider varies considerably. It passes through several stages while the bird is growing to maturity, and after the bird reaches adulthood at about three years old, the plumage alternates between two colours each year as a result of moulting, or the replacement of old feathers with new. In addition, the male's plumage differs from the female's.
Between the ages of three weeks and three years, male Common Eiders moult their feathers eight times, changing their colour from a juvenile blackish brown to an adult olive-brown and white in winter and a striking black and white, with a small area of light emerald green on the back and sides of the head, during the breeding season. Changes in female plumage are less dramatic: from a juvenile blackish brown, the duck becomes rusty-to-tan. The female's summer colours provide good camouflage in the vegetation and rocks of the offshore islands on which she breeds.
Common Eiders can live 20 years, one of the longest lifespans among sea ducks. However, the expected lifespan for eider populations which are heavily harvested may be much shorter.
Habitat
Of all sea ducks, the Common Eider is the most closely tied to marine habitat. It lives in arctic and subarctic coastal marine areas, where it frequents coastal headlands, offshore islands, skerries, and shoals. The Common Eider rarely leaves the water in the winter, and some races remain as far north as there is open water. The seven races of Common Eiders have different breeding ranges. In North America the southern race Somateria mollissima dresseri breeds from Maine to Hamilton Inlet on the Labrador coast; the northern race Somateria mollissima borealis breeds from northern Labrador to Ellesmere Island in the eastern Canadian Arctic; the Hudson Bay race Somateria mollissima sedentaria remains all year within Hudson Bay; and the Pacific race Somateria mollissima v-nigra breeds from Coronation Gulf in the MacKenzie District of the Northwest Territories to the south side of the Alaskan peninsula. Three subspecies are found outside North America: one in northwest Europe, one in Iceland and a third in the Faeroe Islands north of Great Britain.
The Common Eider belongs to the sea duck tribe (Mergini), which contains closely related ducks, all of which use marine habitats to some degree. The King Eider Somateria spectabilis, Spectacled Eider Somateria fischeri, and Common Eider all belong to the same genus, and hybridization is known to occur between Common and King Eiders. Eider ducks are gregarious, travelling and feeding in flocks numbering from tens to thousands.
Other details
This mainly marine species is breeding on arctic islands, in the north-west and extreme east of Eurasia and in North America. Some populations are sedentary. Others are migratory, wintering mainly in Denmark, northern Germany and the Netherlands, but reaching the Atlantic coasts of France. A few birds are seen in Central Europe and the western Mediterranean. The population of north-western Europe is totalling 1.7 to 2.3 millions of individuals (Scott & Rose). A few birds also reach Greece. They probably belong to a small population inhabiting the Ukrainian shores of the Black Sea
Feeding
Eiders feed during the day by diving to the bottom in waters from 3 to 20 m deep to take mussels, clams, scallops, sea urchins, starfish, and crabs, which are swallowed whole and crushed in the large gizzard.
In winter, when daylight is short, more than half the daytime hours are spent in feeding. The ducks feed in shoal waters off headlands and offshore islands and skerries. Flocks move together at the same rate, the ducks at the front of a flock diving first and the rest following sequentially. After 15 to 30 minutes of intensive feeding, flocks move offshore to rest, preen, and digest the contents of the gullet. The feeding sequence is then repeated.
During spring migration, and when the eider ducks arrive near their breeding places, much time is spent feeding, and the birds accumulate fat. These stores are particularly important for the breeding females, or hens, which rely on the reserves through the incubation period. Unlike many ducks, the hen does not feed once she starts sitting on her eggs. The young apparently eat insects during their first week of life.
Conservation
This species has a large range, with an estimated global Extent of Occurrence of 100,000-1,000,000 km². It has a large global population estimated to be 2,500,000-3,600,000 individuals (Wetlands International 2002). Global population trends have not been quantified, but the species is not believed to approach the thresholds for the population decline criterion of the IUCN Red List (i.e. declining more than 30% in ten years or three generations). For these reasons, the species is evaluated as Least Concern. [conservation status from birdlife.org]
Breeding
Eiders return to the breeding islands along the northern coasts as soon as shore-fast ice or pack ice starts to dissipate. Many eider ducks are paired when they arrive on the breeding grounds, although some pairing occurs there. Some races remain paired for several years, others do not. Courtship is very intense in spring, with males making displays for the females which include the upward tossing of the head, cooing, neck-stretching and wing-flapping. Courtship continues after pairing in order to maintain pair bonds.
Some female eiders may breed in their second year of life, but males do not breed until they are three years old. Many females will not breed in some years. Common Eiders breed mainly on small offshore marine islands or isolated spits and points that are free of mammalian predators. Within a couple of weeks of arriving at the breeding grounds, the birds make prospecting flights and visits to choose a suitable nesting place. Often females will use the same nesting site for a number of years, while others choose new nest sites each year. They nest in early summer in dense colonies of tens to 10 000 or more; nesting starts progressively later as one proceeds farther north. There is one brood per season.
Only the female prepares the nest. In some races, the male stays with the female for a while; in others, he does not. When he remains, the male defends the female from other eiders and from gulls and ensures that she does not mate with other males.
The female begins laying the eggs a couple of days after the nest is ready. There are usually four or five eggs per nest, and generally, one egg is laid per day. When the second or third egg has been laid, the female lines her nest with down plucked from her body. While laying the egges, some females will leave the nesting colony, possibly to feed before they return to the nest to incubate, or sit on the eggs, continuously. Once incubation begins, the female only leaves the nest for a little as five minutes every two or three days to drink, but not to eat. During early egg-laying, if the male is still in the vicinity, he accompanies the female on her breaks. By mid-incubation, most males have left the colony on their moult migrations. Incubation lasts from 21 to 24 days, and about 50 to 70 percent of the eggs hatch successfully.
The downy newborns leave the nest within 24 hours, and they feed themselves. Within one hour of entering the water, they can dive competently. Young first fly when they are 60 days old. Generally, few survive to fly; many are lost to predators, exposure, or starvation in their first week of life. In good years, one duckling per adult pair may survive for the fall flight. On the other hand, adults are often long--lived, and estimated annual survival rates vary from 80 to 95 percent. This low reproductive success, which is compensated by high adult survival, is very characteristic of eiders and other sea ducks such as scoters and Long-tailed Ducks. Most other ducks breed more successfully but lose 40 to 50 percent of adults each year.
The mother's relationship with her ducklings ends when she leaves for the moult migration in the autumn. In the fall migration, groups of young may travel together and arrive before the adults on the winter range.
Migration
Migratory, partially migratory, and dispersive. In north-west Europe, major moult migration considerably affects picture of normal migration. Breeders and immatures leave nesting grounds for annual moult in German Waddenzee area, leaving ducklings in care of small number of adults which moult locally. First move June, probably mostly immatures, adults following July; some movement as late as September, especially from east. Waddenzee moulting place for virtually all Shelduck in north-west Europe, except for several thousand which moult in Britain, notably in Bridgwater Bay, south-west England. When moult completed, autumn migration begins in rather leisurely fashion. For breeders of Netherlands, Britain, and Ireland, this entails return to breeding areas. Breeding populations from areas to east of moulting grounds winter around coasts of southern North Sea, west France, and to some extent Britain and Ireland; many thousands remain on moulting grounds. Those wintering outside their breeding areas begin return March. Breeding populations of south-east Europe mainly sedentary, flocking in winter, moving only if bad weather. Those breeding Volga area and Ural steppes migrate to Caspian, where join resident breeders. South of main wintering areas, small numbers occur fairly regularly Iberia, Mediterranean basin east to Nile valley and Middle East.
Wood/Carolina Duck on Quarry Lake, Phoenix Park, Dublin
[order] Anseriformes | [family] Anatidae | [latin] Aix sponsa | [UK] Wood Duck | [FR] Canard branchu | [DE] Brautente | [ES] Pato de la Florida | [IT] Anatra sposa | [NL] Carolinaeend
Measurements
spanwidth min.: 70 cm
spanwidth max.: 73 cm
size min.: 47 cm
size max.: 54 cm
Breeding
incubation min.: 31 days
incubation max.: 35 days
fledging min.: 56 days
fledging max.: 70 days
broods 1
eggs min.: 9
eggs max.: 14
Physical characteristics
Wood Ducks are intermediate in size, between the Mallard and Blue-winged Teal; on average, males weigh 680 g and females weigh 460 g. From a distance, the male Wood Duck on the water appears as a dark-bodied, dark-breasted, light-flanked duck with a striped crested head and a light-coloured throat. At close range, its iridescent plumage, red eyes, and black, red, and white bill are conspicuous. A white eye-ring, light-coloured throat, and fine crest distinguish the female from both the male Wood Duck and females of other species. Both sexes usually show a downward pointing crest at the back of the head, and their long broad square tails are distinctive features in flight.
The wings of Wood Ducks are highly characteristic. The primary wing feathers, which are the 10 outermost flight feathers attached to the wing beyond the wrist, are dark in colour. The outer vanes of these feathers look as if they have been sprayed with aluminum paint. The Wood Duck is the only North American duck so marked.
In most cases it is possible to distinguish immature from mature ducks and to tell males from females by their wings alone. In the Wood Duck, as in other ducks, the feathers of that year's young are finer, more pointed and worn, and less colourful than those of adults. Females show a few small feathers on the upper surface of the wing that are purplish and have the same lustre as oil on water. These feathers are absent in males. The white tips on the feathers along the trailing edge of the wing are usually teardrop-shaped in the female, but either straight or V-shaped in the male. By studying the wings of ducks taken by hunters, biologists can determine the ratio of young to adult ducks in the population and thereby measure waterfowl production.
The Wood Duck is a distinctively North American species. Its only close relative is the Mandarin Duck of eastern Asia. Evidently the Wood Duck originated in North America, as fossil remains have been found only in widely scattered locations in the eastern part of the continent.
Habitat
Like other perching ducks, Wood Ducks nest in trees. Preferred nesting sites are holes in hollow trunks or large branches that result from broken limbs, fire scars, lightning and logging damage. They also use cavities created by large woodpeckers such as the Pileated Woodpecker. Nests are situated from 1 to 15 m above ground, in trees more than 40 cm in diameter. They are usually found close to water, although females sometimes select trees some distance from water.
Other details
In Canada, the Wood Duck nests in scattered locations in the southern parts of all provinces; however, there is only one breeding record for Newfoundland and Labrador. The most extensive breeding ranges are in Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, and British Columbia. This duck occurs over a much wider area in late summer and early autumn, as a result of post-breeding dispersal. Although most Wood Ducks migrate to the United States, a few may spend the winter in extreme southern Ontario and southeastern British Columbia.
The Wood Duck is much more widely distributed in the United States, where it nests in areas east of the Mississippi River, along the lower Missouri River into South Dakota, in eastern Texas, along the Pacific coast, and in a few other places. It winters mainly along the Atlantic coast from New York south, along the Gulf coast into central Texas, to the lower Mississippi River valley and western California. A few winter in Mexico south to Distrito Federal. In Europe all sightings are of escaped birds.
Feeding
The Wood Duck is mainly a herbivore, or vegetarian, with plant foods making up about 90 percent of its diet. Foods vary according to their local availability, but duckweeds, cypress seeds, sedges, grasses, pondweeds, and acorns are among the more important foods throughout North America. In recent years corn has assumed a greater importance as small groups of Wood Ducks engage in field feeding behaviour similar to that of dabbling ducks, such as Mallards.
Ducklings require a high protein diet for rapid growth. Invertebrates such as dragonflies, bugs, beetles, and spiders are important foods during the first few weeks of life, so high populations of these small creatures are essential in habitats where the young will hatch and develop.
Conservation
This species has a large range, with an estimated global Extent of Occurrence of 6,200,000 km². It has a large global population estimated to be 3,500,000 individuals (Wetlands International 2002). Global population trends have not been quantified, but the species is not believed to approach the thresholds for the population decline criterion of the IUCN Red List (i.e. declining more than 30% in ten years or three generations). For these reasons, the species is evaluated as Least Concern. [conservation status from birdlife.org]
Breeding
The female Wood Duck breeds when one year old. She lines the nest with down, or fine feathers, taken from her breast, and lays eight to 15 dull-white to cream-coloured eggs. She incubates, or keeps the eggs warm, for 28 to 30 days until they hatch. During unusually cold weather, or if the female is away from the nest for an abnormally long time, incubation may require a few extra days.
Upon hatching, usually in June in eastern Canada, the young use their sharp claws to climb up the inside of the nesting cavity to its entrance, then jump and flutter to the ground, generally landing unharmed. The female guides them to the nearest water, where they will spend the next eight to nine weeks hunting for food together.
Shortly after the female begins incubation the male loses interest in family affairs and spends more time away from the nest. He joins other males, which eventually form large groups. As mid-summer approaches, the males begin the move to remote, undisturbed, sheltered places to moult, or shed old feathers. To reach these areas, they may travel great distances; many thousands migrate to southeastern Canada from breeding grounds in the northern states. On arrival the moult begins, and by August the brilliant spring feathers of the male have been replaced by a plumage similar to that of the female. Then, all at once, the flight feathers are moulted, leaving the male flightless for approximately four weeks while new feathers grow in.
Soon after the ducklings have fledged, or taken their first flight, usually by mid-August in eastern Canada, the females leave their broods, move a short distance, and undergo their moult. Like the males, they too seek out remote, undisturbed swamps and marshes and become flightless for a short period.
In late summer and early autumn, the young with their newly acquired powers of flight and the adults with their recently replaced flight feathers move in a leisurely way about the northern parts of their range. Their principal concern is to store up energy, in the form of fat, in preparation for the soon-to-come fall migration.
Migration
Wood Ducks migrate north to their Canadian breeding grounds, arriving there by April. Pair formation may occur on the wintering grounds before or during spring migration, or on the breeding grounds if one of the pair is lost. Mated pairs seek out secluded swamps or beaver ponds that provide water, nesting sites, brooding habitat, and feeding areas. Females often return to the same general area in which they were hatched.
By the first severe frost, usually in late September or early October in eastern Canada, Wood Ducks begin to head for the southeastern United States. Southern populations of Wood Ducks, particularly females, are less migratory. Populations in the interior of British Columbia migrate to the west coast, whereas Wood Ducks that live on the coast do not migrate at all. Has occurred Bermuda (regular), Azores and Alaska. Many sightings from Europe, presumed escapes.
Class: Aves.
Subclass: Galloanserae.
Superorder: Anserimorphae.
Order: Anseriformes.
Suborder: Anseri.
Superfamily: Anatoidea.
Family: Anatidae.
L'ànec collverd és un ocell aquàtic que fa uns 60 cm de llargada i uns 95 cm amb les ales obertes.
El mascle és de color gris amb el cap verd fosc, el bec groguenc, el pit marronós, el ventre grisós i la cua blanca. Té una franja blavosa lilosa amb els marges blancs a cada ala.
Durant l'estiu canvia el plomatge i el color verdós de coll es torna marronós.
La femella és de color marronós amb taques; té el bec marronós amb els marges ataronjats.
Menja plantes aquàtiques i també granotes i insectes.
Fa el niu entre les herbes dels marges aquàtics o en forats d'arbres i el revesteix de plomissol.
La femella pon entre 7 i 18 ous de color verdós clar i els incuba durant unes 4 setmanes. Els aneguets comencen a volar a les 7 setmanes.
Viu es zones aquàtiques com aiguamolls, estanys, rius, rieres i grans basses.
És un animal tranquil que arriba a viure en zones urbanes (parcs amb petits llacs).
S'aixeca per volar fàcilment des de l'aigua. Vola amb rapidesa.
Viu entre 20 i 30 anys.
El ánade real o azulón es una ave acuática que mide unos 60 cm de largo y unos 95 cm con las alas abiertas.
El macho es de color gris con la cabeza verde oscura, el pico amarillento, el pecho marrón, el vientre grisáceo y la cola blanca. Tiene una franja azul lilosa con los márgenes blancos en cada ala.
Durante el verano cambia el plumaje y el color verdoso del cuello se vuelve marrón.
La hembra es de color marrón con manchas; tiene el pico marronáceo con los márgenes anaranjados.
Come plantas acuáticas y también ranas e insectos.
Construye el nido entre las hierbas de los márgenes acuáticos o en agujeros de árboles y lo reviste de plumón.
La hembra pone entre 7 y 18 huevos de color verdoso claro y los incuba durante unas 4 semanas. Los patitos comienzan en volar a las 7 semanas.
Vive enzonas acuáticas como marismas, estanques, ríos y grandes balsas.
Es un animal tranquilo que llega en vivir en zonas urbanas (parques con pequeños lagos).
Se Levanta para volar fácilmente desde el agua. Vuela con rapidez.
Vive entre 20 y 30 años.
Order: Anseriformes
Family: Anatidae
Florida, USA
© Huáscar Pérez 2013.
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Trumpeter swan with cygnet. National Elk Refuge, Wyoming.
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