The common shelduck (Tadorna tadorna), called Gravand in Skåne
, is a waterfowl species of the shelduck genus, Tadorna. It is widespread and common in Eurasia, mainly breeding in temperate and wintering in subtropical regions; in winter, it can also be found in the Maghreb. Its scientific name comes from the French name Tadorne for this species.
It may originally derive from Celtic roots meaning "pied waterfowl", essentially the same as the English "shelduck".
Fossil bones from Dorkovo (Bulgaria) described as Balcanas pliocaenica may actually belong to this species. More likely, they are an extinct species of Tadorna (if not a distinct genus) due to their Early Pliocene age; the present species is not unequivocally attested from the fossil record until some 2–3 million years later (Late Pliocene/Early Pleistocene).
Distribution and habitat
This is a bird which breeds in temperate Eurasia. Most populations migrate to subtropical areas in winter, but this species is largely resident in westernmost Europe, apart from movements to favoured moulting grounds, such as the Wadden Sea on the north German coast.
The common shelduck is common around the coastline of Great Britain and Ireland (where it is simply known as shelduck), where it frequents salt marshes and estuaries. It frequently nests in rabbit burrows. Sightings of this bird are rare in North America and are reported as infrequent visitors to the U.S. and Canada.
Range map from www.oiseaux.net - Ornithological Portal Oiseaux.net
www.oiseaux.net
is one of those MUST visit pages if you're in to bird watching. You can find just about everything there
Range of T. tadorna
By Andreas Trepte - Own work, CC BY-SA 2.5,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=345555
Description
The common shelduck resembles a small short-necked goose in size and shape. It is a striking bird, with a reddish-pink bill, pink feet, a white body with chestnut patches and a black belly, and a dark green head and neck. The wing coverts are white, the primary remiges black, and the secondaries green (only showing in flight) and chestnut. The underwings are almost entirely white.
Female
Böda Harbour, Öland - May 2019
Male
Böda Harbour, Öland - May 2019
Sexes are similar, but the female is smaller, with some white facial markings, while the male is particularly crisply coloured in the breeding season, his bill bright red and bearing a prominent knob at the forehead.
Ducklings are white, with black cap, hindneck and wing and back patches. Juveniles are similarly coloured, greyish above and mostly white below, but already have the adult's wing pattern.
The call is a loud honk.
Listen to the Common Shelduck
Remarks from the Recordist
Calls of several pairs interacting.
Egg, Collection Museum Wiesbaden
By Klaus Rassinger und Gerhard Cammerer, Museum Wiesbaden - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=36768656
Common Shelduck feeding
Böda Harbour, Öland - May 2019
Common Shelduck feeding
Böda Harbour, Öland - May 2019
Behaviour
Moulting flocks can be very large (100,000 on the Wadden Sea), since most pairs leave their partially grown young in a crèche with just one or two adults.
This species is mainly associated with lakes and rivers in open country, breeding in rabbit burrows, tree holes, haystacks or similar. In winter it is common on suitable estuaries and tidal mudflats as well.
This bird is one of the species to which the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA) applies.
The young will dive under water to avoid predators and the adults will fly away from them to act as a decoy.
Conservation status
IUCN Red List
of Threatened Species. Version 2013.2. International Union for Conservation of Nature. Retrieved November 26, 2013.
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