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The Zoochat Photographic Guide to the Anseriformes

Discussion in 'Wildlife & Nature Conservation' started by TeaLovingDave, 24 Dec 2019.

  1. TeaLovingDave

    TeaLovingDave Moderator Staff Member 10+ year member

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    Anas


    African Black Duck
    (Anas sparsa)

    The range of this species extends throughout much of eastern and southern Africa, from southeast Sudan, Eritrea and Ethiopia in the north to the Western Cape, and north from here to western DRC; largely absent from eastern Namibia, western Botswana and southeast Angola. Disjunct populations occur patchily throughout West Africa; in Gabon; in southeast Nigeria and northwest Cameroon; and in Guinea.

    Two subspecies are recognised:

    A. s. leucostigma
    - photo by @LaughingDove

    [​IMG]

    A. s. sparsa
    - photo by @vogelcommando

    [​IMG]


    Yellow-billed Duck
    (Anas undulata)

    The range of this species extends throughout much of eastern and southern Africa, from Eritrea and Ethiopia in the north to the Western Cape in the south, and north from here into northern Angola and central DRC; largely absent from Namibia and Botswana. Disjunct populations occur in north-central Cameroon and adjacent southern Nigeria.

    Two subspecies are recognised:

    A. u. ruppelli
    - photo by @Hix

    [​IMG]

    A. u. undulata
    - photo by @Tomek

    [​IMG]


    Meller's Duck
    (Anas melleri)

    Endemic to eastern and central Madagascar.

    Monotypic.

    Photo by @ThylacineAlive

    [​IMG]


    Pacific Black Duck
    (Anas superciliosa)

    The range of this species extends from Sumatra and Java in the west, through the Lesser Sundas, Moluccas and New Guinea to the Bismarck Archipelago and Solomon Islands, and from here throughout the southwest Pacific to French Polynesia in the east, and south into Australia, Tasmania and New Zealand.

    Monotypic.

    Photo by @Hix

    [​IMG]


    Philippine Duck
    (Anas luzonica)

    The range of this species extends throughout the Philippines.

    Monotypic.

    Photo by @Maguari

    [​IMG]


    Chinese Spot-billed Duck
    (Anas zonorhyncha)

    The range of this species extends throughout much of eastern Asia, from eastern Mongolia and adjacent southern Siberia in the west, through northeast China and southeast Siberia to Sakhalin and northern Japan in the east, and south throughout Japan, the Korean Peninsula and eastern China to Taiwan and northeast Indochina in the south; northern populations are partially migratory, wintering in south-central China and eastern Indochina.

    Monotypic.

    Photo by @Terry Thomas

    [​IMG]


    Indian Spot-billed Duck
    (Anas poecilorhyncha)

    The range of this species extends throughout much of southern Asia, from eastern Pakistan and northwest India, throughout the Indian Subcontinent and south-central China to southeast China in the east, and south from here throughout Indochina.

    Two subspecies are recognised:

    A. p. poecilorhyncha
    - photo by @ThylacineAlive

    [​IMG]

    A. p. haringtoni
    - photo by @Chlidonias

    [​IMG]


    Laysan Duck
    (Anas laysanensis)

    Endemic to Laysan in the northwest Hawaiian archipelago.

    Monotypic.

    Photo by @Dormitator

    [​IMG]


    Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos)

    The summer breeding range of this species extends throughout much of the Holarctic; from Alaska in the west to southeast Canada in the east, and south throughout the northern, central and western USA to central Mexico; throughout the coastline of Greenland and Iceland; and from the British Isles, Iberian Peninsula and northwest Africa in the west throughout Europe, Asia Minor and the Caucasus into Siberia and adjacent regions of Central Asia, to Kamchatka, Sakhalin and Japan in the east. Populations in the USA, northern Mexico, Europe and Japan are largely resident. Wintering populations extend throughout the USA, Mexico and Caribbean; throughout Europe, through the Mediterranean into the Nile Valley, and from here south to northern Kenya; and throughout the Indian Subcontinent, northern Indochina and southern China. However, the species has been introduced worldwide in both the wild and feral forms, particularly in southern Africa, Australia and New Zealand, and throughout the wintering range.

    Two subspecies are recognised;

    A. p. platyrhynchos
    - photo by @Hix

    [​IMG]

    A. p. conboschas


    American Black Duck
    (Anas rubripes)

    The summer breeding range extends throughout central and eastern Canada into Newfoundland and Nova Scotia, and south into northeast and eastern USA; wintering populations occur throughout central and eastern USA, and south to northern Florida and northeastern Mexico.

    Monotypic.

    Photo by @Great Argus

    [​IMG]
     
  2. TeaLovingDave

    TeaLovingDave Moderator Staff Member 10+ year member

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    Mottled Duck (Anas fulvigula)

    The range of this species comprises three disjunct populations; from Arizona and adjacent western Texas in the north to central Mexico in the south; from coastal Louisiana and Texas in the north to coastal east-central Mexico in the south; and throughout Florida.

    Three subspecies are recognised:

    A. f. diazi
    - photo by @carlos55

    [​IMG]

    A. f. maculosa
    A. f. fulvigula
    - photo by @Maguari

    [​IMG]


    Hawaiian Duck
    (Anas wyvilliana)

    Endemic to the Hawaaian islands.

    Monotypic.

    Photo by @ThylacineAlive

    [​IMG]


    Andaman Teal (Anas albogularis)

    Endemic to the Andaman Islands and Great Coco.

    Monotypic; no photographs of this species are present within the Zoochat gallery.


    Sunda Teal
    (Anas gibberifrons)

    The range of this species extends throughout the Greater and Lesser Sundas.

    Monotypic.

    Photo by @Goura

    [​IMG]


    Grey Teal (Anas gracilis)

    The range of this species extends throughout New Guinea and the Bismarck Archipelago, south into Australia and Tasmania, and east from here into Vanuatu, New Caledonia and New Zealand.

    Monotypic.

    Photo by @Chlidonias

    [​IMG]


    Chestnut Teal
    (Anas castanea)

    The range of this species extends throughout southern and eastern Australia, patchily into northern Australia, and south into Tasmania.

    Monotypic.

    Photo by @Hix

    [​IMG]


    Brown Teal
    (Anas chlorotis)

    The range of this species is restricted to a handful of disjunct populations in New Zealand; on Great Barrier Island; in the northern reaches of North Island; and in the extreme southwest of South Island. Reintroduced populations occur at several other locations throughout New Zealand.

    Monotypic.

    Photo by @Chlidonias

    [​IMG]


    Auckland Teal
    (Anas aucklandica)

    Formerly endemic to Auckland Island and adjacent islets; now restricted to the offshore islets having been extirpated from Auckland Island in the 1940s.

    Monotypic; no photographs of this species are present within the Zoochat gallery.


    Campbell Teal
    (Anas nesiotis)

    Formerly endemic to Campbell Island, and long-believed extinct; rediscovered on the offshore islet Dent Island in 1975 and - subsequent to captive breeding efforts - reintroduced to Campbell in 2004.

    Monotypic.

    Photo by @Chlidonias

    [​IMG]
     
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  3. TeaLovingDave

    TeaLovingDave Moderator Staff Member 10+ year member

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    Madagascar Teal (Anas bernieri)

    The range of this species is restricted to the western coastline of Madagascar.

    Monotypic.

    Photo by @demonmoth

    [​IMG]


    Cape Teal
    (Anas capensis)

    The range of this species represents a highly-fragmented and patchy distribution of disjunct populations throughout sub-Saharan Africa; in the Chad Valley of Chad, Niger and Nigeria; from central Ethiopia to northern Tanzania; in southwest Tanzania and northernmost Malawi; and from northwest Angola in the west to central Zimbabwe in the east, and south to the Western Cape.

    Monotypic.

    Photo by @Hix

    [​IMG]


    White-cheeked Pintail
    (Anas bahamensis)

    The range of this species extends patchily throughout the Caribbean and South America in several disjunct populations; throughout the Greater and Lesser Antilles into coastal northern Venezuela and the Guianas, and south into the Amazon River Delta of northeast Brazil; in east-central Brazil; along the coastline of Ecuador and Peru to northern Chile; in the Galapagos Islands; throughout coastal central Chile; and from southern Bolivia and western Paraguay in the north to southeast Argentina in the south.

    Three subspecies are recognised:

    A. b. bahamensis
    A. b. galapagensis
    A. b. rubrirostris


    Photo by @KevinB

    [​IMG]


    Red-billed Teal
    (Anas erythrorhyncha)

    The range of this species extends throughout much of eastern and southern Africa, from northwest Angola in the west to southeast Sudan and Ethiopia in the east, and south to the Western Cape.

    Monotypic.

    Photo by @Macaw16

    [​IMG]


    Northern Pintail
    (Anas acuta)

    The summer breeding range of this species extends throughout much of the Holarctic; from Alaska in the west to northeast Canada in the east, and patchily south to north-central USA; and from Iceland, the British Isles and Scandinavia in the west, through northern and eastern Europe into western Russia, and from here throughout Siberia and adjacent regions of Central Asia to Sakhalin, Kamchatka and northeast Siberia in the east. Wintering populations extend patchily from southwest Canada, throughout USA into Mexico and Central America, to Colombia in the south; from western Europe and northwest Africa into Asia Minor and the Middle East, and from here throughout southern Asia to eastern China, Taiwan and northern Philippines; and throughout the Sahel from Senegal in the west to Ethiopia in the east, south from here to northern Tanzania and north through the Nile Valley to northeast Egypt.

    Monotypic.

    Photo by @Great Argus

    [​IMG]


    Southern Pintail
    (Anas eatoni)

    Endemic to the Crozet and Desolation Islands in the southern Indian Ocean.

    Two subspecies are recognised:

    A. e. eatoni
    A. e. drygalskii


    No photographs of this species are present within the Zoochat gallery.


    Yellow-billed Pintail
    (Anas georgica)

    The range of this species extends throughout much of South America, through the Andes from southern Colombia to Tierra del Fuego, and extending east of the Andes throughout Argentina, Uruguay and southeast Brazil; disjunct populations occur on the Falkland Islands and South Georgia.

    Two extant subspecies are recognised:

    A. g. spinicauda
    - photo by @Tomek

    [​IMG]

    A. g. georgica
    - photo by @Tomek

    [​IMG]


    Common Teal
    (Anas crecca)

    The summer breeding range of this species extends throughout much of the Holarctic; from Alaska in the west to Newfoundland and Nova Scotia in the east, and patchily south into northern and western USA; and from Iceland, the British Isles and northern France in the west, patchily throughout northern Europe, through the Caucasus and western Russia into Siberia and adjacent regions of Central Asia, to Sakhalin, Kamchatka and northeasternmost Siberia in the east. Wintering populations extend from coastal southwest Canada throughout USA and Mexico to the Isthmus of Tehuantepec in the south; patchily throughout western and southern Europe and northern Africa into Asia Minor and the Middle East, and from here throughout southern Asia to Indochina and the northern Malay Peninsula, and from here north into eastern China, the Korean Peninsula and Japan; patchily in the western Sahel; and throughout the Nile Valley into Ethiopia, eastern South Sudan and the Albertine Rift.

    Two subspecies are recognised:

    A. c. crecca
    - photo by @vogelcommando

    [​IMG]

    A. c. carolinensis
    - photo by @Great Argus

    [​IMG]


    Andean Teal
    (Anas andium)

    The range of this species extends throughout the northern Andes from northwest Venezuela and adjacent Colombia in the north to southern Ecuador and adjacent northern Peru in the south.

    Two subspecies are recognised:

    A. a. altipetens
    A. a. andium
    - photo by @ronnienl

    [​IMG]


    Yellow-billed Teal
    (Anas flavirostris)

    The range of this species extends throughout the Andes from central Peru in the north to Tierra del Fuego in the south, and east of the Andes throughout northern and central Argentina into Uruguay and southeast Brazil; disjunct populations are present in the Falkland Islands and South Georgia.

    Two subspecies are recognised:

    A. f. oxyptera
    - photo by @ThylacineAlive

    [​IMG]

    A. f. flavirostris
    - photo by @vogelcommando

    [​IMG]
    .
     
  4. TeaLovingDave

    TeaLovingDave Moderator Staff Member 10+ year member

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    And that's the Anseriformes completed - and, I feel, this thread has demonstrated that the group is rather well-represented within the gallery.... perhaps the most complete of any of the major groups of modern birds, all things considered. There are still a few gaps, of course, but given the fact that two or three species recognised as extant by the HBW are almost certainly extinct it will be impossible to get 100% completion :p

    Even so, we've done a very good job of ensuring that the group is covered pretty comprehensively - and barring the aforementioned species whose continued status is unclear, and one or two with extremely limited ranges, I reckon we have reasonable odds of being able to fill some of the few gaps remaining!

    To conclude, then, I will provide a list of those species which are yet to be represented with living individuals in the gallery (with the presumably-extinct species marked with an triple asterisk).
     
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  5. TeaLovingDave

    TeaLovingDave Moderator Staff Member 10+ year member

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    ANHIMIDAE - Screamers (3/3 species represented)
     
  6. TeaLovingDave

    TeaLovingDave Moderator Staff Member 10+ year member

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    ANSERANATIDAE - Magpie-goose (1/1 species represented)
     
  7. TeaLovingDave

    TeaLovingDave Moderator Staff Member 10+ year member

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    ANATIDAE - Ducks, Geese and Swans (152/165 species represented)


    The following species within the Anatidae are currently unrepresented in the gallery:

    Masked Duck (Nomonyx dominicus)
    ---

    Andean Duck (Oxyura ferruginea)
    ---

    Steller's Eider (Polysticta stelleri)
    ---

    Siberian Scoter (Melanitta stejnegeri)
    ---

    Brazilian Merganser (Mergus octosetaceus)
    ---

    Crested Shelduck (Tadorna cristata) ***
    ---

    Madagascar Pochard (Aythya innotata)
    ---

    Pink-headed Duck (Rhodonessa caryophyllacea) ***
    ---

    Salvadori's Teal (Salvadorina waigiuensis)
    ---

    White-headed Steamerduck (Tachyeres leucocephalus)
    ---

    Andaman Teal (Anas albogularis)
    Auckland Teal (Anas aucklandica)
    Southern Pintail (Anas eatoni)
     
  8. Andrew Swales

    Andrew Swales Well-Known Member

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    An interesting piece https://www.researchgate.net/public...he_Pink-headed_Duck_Rhodonessa_caryophyllacea

    From which the following is notable, for me at least, as Lilford is only a few miles from here, just over the county border from us in Northamptonshire.

    Pink-headed Ducks were frequently kept in captivity during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The first in Europe, a drake and duck, arrived at London Zoo, England, on 12 January1874 (Hamilton 1874, Sclater 1875), with further arrivals in 1887and 1892. All were supplied by a well-known dealer, A. Jamrach, and sold for the then princely sum of £40–£60 each (Hubbard 1907),the equivalent of £4,000–£6,000 today. The ducks were reportedly collected in the Goalpara district, Assam (Delacour 1956), but the exact location was never disclosed (Ali 1960). Thomas Littleton Powys, the fourth Baron Lilford, a prominent ornithologist and co-founder of the British Ornithologists’ Union (Drewitt 1900),obtained three live birds, one drake and two ducks, of which two were purchased on 19 April 1892 from Jamrach (Prestwich 1974);these were housed in his aviary at Lilford Park, Northamptonshire, England (Drewitt 1900). The drake and one duck died in 1896 and were donated by Lilford to the British Museum (Natural History); the duck (Plate 2) is still held in the Tring bird collection (NHMUK 1896.4.2.2) but the drake has been missing since before 1986 (Knox & Walters 1994). The other female was still alive in 1900,and Lilford in 1896 had commented on the rarity of his surviving specimen (Drewitt 1900):
     
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  9. TeaLovingDave

    TeaLovingDave Moderator Staff Member 10+ year member

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    It's a great pity that - to the best of my knowledge - no one ever managed to breed the species in captivity; given the captive hardiness of the closely related Netta and Aythya ducks, I reckon there's a decent chance that had this been managed we might still have them around now. Given the fact that there have been suggestions that the species was nocturnal, and that (if extant) this may be a reason it has eluded notice, one does wonder whether this might have had a bearing on the aforementioned lack of captive breeding.

    On a related note, it might interest some people to learn that of the species I listed above which are unrepresented in the gallery, most *have* been held in European public and private collections over the decades; in fact, as far as I know, the only extant members of the Anatidae which have never been held in European aviculture are the Brazilian Merganser and the Campbell Teal, along with the (as noted) probably extinct Crested Shelduck.
     
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  10. Andrew Swales

    Andrew Swales Well-Known Member

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    Even though the author describes them as 'frequently kept in captivity', the tiny number imported, huge prices and rarity in collections (of the very rich and famous) implies otherwise. A couple here and a couple there is often not enough to start a captive population. Delacour's 4 volume set of 'Wildfowl of the World' outlines the establishment of many species in captivity. Many (most?) wild-caught birds remained very nervous and did not breed, and many stocks originate from an almost accidental first breeding and then the second generation of captive birds (without without injections of new blood) doing much better. Maybe there were just not enough Pink-eared imported at any one time to get them going. I wouldn't have thought there was any less reason for a nocturnal species to not breed in a private collection than a diurnal one; maybe they would be even more likely to settle down as there are long hours of darkness for the birds to do their own thing without disturbance.

    I certainly also remember seeing pictures of Masked Ducks, Steller's Eiders and Salvadori's Ducks in captivity in the past, presumably at the Wildfowl Trust.
     
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  11. TeaLovingDave

    TeaLovingDave Moderator Staff Member 10+ year member

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    Steller's Eider was held at Blackbrook Zoo until the relatively recent past, too - something like 2004, if memory serves me correctly. There were rumours a few years ago that a private keeper in Norfolk still had the species, but I don't think anyone ever got to the bottom of whether this was true or not. Given my particular soft spot for seaducks, it's probably the only major bird species which I would be tempted to travel a long distance to see if a vagrant one popped up on the UK mainland and stuck around..... or indeed if a captive collection decided to obtain the species :p
     
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  12. Great Argus

    Great Argus Well-Known Member 5+ year member

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    It appears Alaska Sealife Center still holds Steller's Eider, so it's possible a few Zoochatters may have photos of the species from there.
     
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  13. Chlidonias

    Chlidonias Moderator Staff Member 15+ year member

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    It's not much use for the thread, but there is an incidental Auckland Island Teal in this photo: walk-through NZ aviary - ZooChat

    It's a pity I never took any proper photos of Auckland Island Teals in the collections where I've seen them, but back then I only had a film camera with its limitations (mostly the cost of buying and developing film) and my own limitations of being a crappy photographer. Now there are no Auckland Island Teal left in captivity.
     
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  14. Goura

    Goura Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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    That's a new one for me - never heard of it before!
     
  15. TeaLovingDave

    TeaLovingDave Moderator Staff Member 10+ year member

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    Judging from photographs and portraits I have seen, they are very much akin to a weird-looking Ruddy Duck :p and as a US native species, they are one of the gaps I have the most hope will be filled eventually.
     
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  16. Great Argus

    Great Argus Well-Known Member 5+ year member

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    Not a US native by much range though, and not very common so I hear. However I think you are correct in guessing they will appear in the gallery, given the wide geographic range of the species. Given the occasional individual does stray north with some regularity, perhaps a keen birding zoochatter will manage to photograph one for the gallery.
     
  17. Goura

    Goura Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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    I've now actually located it in my ID book on waterfowl - I thought I knew that book really well! Nice looking species.
     
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  18. Goura

    Goura Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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    I've uploaded a photo of Bucephala clangula to the UK wildlife gallery that is a bit clearer but I don't think it's in full plumage - or it's a juvenile?
     
  19. birdsandbats

    birdsandbats Well-Known Member 5+ year member

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    I have several good photos of Black Scoter now - I will try to upload them soon.
     
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  20. Pertinax

    Pertinax Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    I believe there is an immature male Steller's Eider on Orkney or Shetland(or somewhere like that) which they hope will stay around long enough to acquire adult plumage- but its not the mainland of course.