- Oxyura ferruginea
Identification
Length 35–43 cm, wingspan 53-62 cm, weight 310-800 g
A small diving duck. Compact body with large head and stiff tail often cocked up, give it a very distinctive shape. Wings plain dark brown in all ages and seasons.
Breeding male
- Striking blue bill
- Black head
- Red-brown body
Non-breeding male
- Grey-brown body
- Head much as summer male but slightly duller
Female
- Dull brown
- Striped dark brown and pale buff head pattern
Juvenile
- Very similar to female; young males slowly gain white cheeks in first winter
Distribution
South America: Andes from Colombia south to Argentina and Chile.
Taxonomy
Closely related to the other "stifftails" of the genus Oxyura and formerly treated conspecific with Ruddy Duck.
Subspecies
Two subspecies are accepted[1]:
- O. f. andina:
- O. f. ferruginea:
Habitat
Marshes, ponds and lakes with areas of open water and emergent vegetation.
Behaviour
Action
Dives to feed. Often sinks low in water before diving or even sinks completely to feed without diving.
Rarely seen on land as it walks poorly. They are not often seen in flight.
It cocks the tail much of the time. Except when on the nest spends much time on open water or diving for food.
Diet
A diving duck.
Their diet consists of aquatic insects, molluscs, crustaceans and worms. Also aquatic plant seeds.
Breeding
Breeding season varies through range, breeds all year in the tropics.
A seasonally monogamous species. The nest is a bowl made of dead vegetation on ground or on water, hidden in dense vegetation. Lays 6 to 10 eggs.
References
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2018. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2018. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- Gill, F and D Donsker (Eds). 2017. IOC World Bird Names (version 7.2). Available at http://www.worldbirdnames.org/.
- Del Hoyo, J, A Elliot, and J Sargatal, eds. 1992. Handbook of the Birds of the World. Volume 1: Ostrich to Ducks. Barcelona: Lynx Edicions. ISBN 978-8487334108
- Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive (retrieved December 2014)
- BF Member Observations
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Andean Duck. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 20 April 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Andean_Duck
External Links
