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Baikal Teal
jmorlan

Baikal Teal (Sibirionetta formosa)

Female left, male on right.These are adults, the males of which show complete white shoulder stripes and have a white, not buffy supercilium. Note also the white trim along the lower border of the green face patch typical of fully adult males. In this species, some juvenal plumage feathers are known to persist until the following summer (Madge & Burn 1988), while adults usually attain full plumage by late fall (Palmer 1976). Note the white lore spot on the female.
Formerly considered "vulnerable" but now this species is classified as "least concern" by IUCN. Because of over-hunting and pesticides, the Baikal Teal underwent a serious population decline in past decades. By the 1980's their total world population had plummeted to an estimate of only 20,000 birds. However, recent conservation efforts have been extremely successful and upwards of 400,000 Baikal Teal now winter in Korea alone. More details of this comeback can be found at the BirdsKorea web site.
A genetic study by Johnson and Sorenson indicated that Baikal Teal is not closely related to any other Anas species. This finding was confirmed by Gonzalez et al (2009) who recommended placing Baikal Teal in its own monotypic genus, a proposal adopted in 2017 in the 58th supplement to the AOU checklist. King (1999) noted that Anas hybrids often show Baikal-like facial patterns, and speculated that this may be a reappearance of characters that are ancestral to the whole dabbling duck tribe.
Location
Saku--Saku Regulating Pond, Nagano Prefecture, Japan.
Date taken
15 February 2019
Scientific name
Sibirionetta formosa
Equipment used
Canon PowerShot SX60 HS
Staff member
Opus Editor
Supporter
Aren't they beautiful ducks these Joe. Such interesting information you've provided too.

An excellent job my friend. Very well done.
 

Media information

Category
Asia, Australia & Pacific Islands
Added by
jmorlan
Date added
View count
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Comment count
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