- Oxyura maccoa
Identification
Length 48-51 cm. Males have a chestnut body, a blue bill and a black head. Adult females have a grey-brown body, with a dark grey bill and a dark brown crown, nape and cheek stripe.
Distribution
Eastern and southern Africa: Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Namibia and South Africa.
Taxonomy
Monotypic.
Habitat
Shallow fresh waters, and brackish and saline lakes in winter.
Behaviour
Aquatic; rarely comes to land. Found in flocks of up to 24 when not breeding. Forages for diving for small invertebrates in mud.
Breeding
Polygynous; females nest singly in a territory, and the male's territory may include up to 8 nesting females. The nest is built by the female in reeds, sedges or bulrushes growing in fairly deep water. Four to nine eggs are incubated for about 26 days by the female.
References
- Clements, JF. 2008. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to December 2008. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019. Spreadsheet available at http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist.
- Hockey, PAR, WRJ Dean, and PG Ryan, eds. 2005. Roberts' Birds of Southern Africa. 7th ed. Cape Town: John Voelcker Bird Book Fund. ISBN 978-0620340533
- Sinclair, I and P Ryan. 2003. Birds of Africa South of the Sahara. Princeton: Princeton Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0691118154
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Maccoa Duck. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 26 April 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Maccoa_Duck
