Torrent Duck - BirdForum Opus

Male right, female left, subspecies leucogenis
Photo by Steve Sanchez
Aguas Calientes, Machu Picchu, Cusco, Peru, November 2014

Merganetta armata

Identification

Female, nominate subspecies
Photo by jmorlan
El Ingenio, Región Metropolitana de Santiago, Chile, February 2018

40–46 cm (15¾-18 in)
Small streamlined duck with rubbery red bill and long stiff tail.
Male

• White head and neck white
• Black crown and stripe down hindneck
• Black line from eye down side of neck
• Rest of upperparts blackish more or less streaked tawny and gray
• White underparts lightly streaked gray
• Green wing speculum bordered white (hard to see).
  

Female very different

• Bluish-gray crown and hindneck
• Rest of upperparts like male
• Sides of head and entire underparts orange cinnamon.

Distribution

South America: found in Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile, Argentina and Tierra del Fuego.

Taxonomy

Female, subspecies colombiana
Photo by nick scarle
San Isidro, Ecuador, August 2008

Subspecies

Male, subspecies colombiana
Photo by C B Allen
Papallacta river at Guango lodge, Napo, Ecuador, 13th November, 2024

There are 6 subspecies^[1]:

• M. a. colombiana:

• Andes of Colombia, adjacent north-western Venezuela and Ecuador

• M. a. leucogenis:

• Andes of central and southern Ecuador and Peru

• M. a. turneri:

• Andes of southern Peru (Cuzco and Arequipa)

• M. a. garleppi:

• Andes of Bolivia

• M. a. berlepschi:

• Andes of north-western Argentina and northern Chile

• M. a. armata:

• Andes of Chile and adjacent Argentina south to Tierra del Fuego

An additional subspecies fraenata is generally considered invalid^[2].

Habitat

Fast flowing mountain rivers. Observed at heights of 8700 ft.

Behaviour

Breeding

It nests in waterside caves.

Diet

Female with 2 ducklings, subspecies colombiana
Photo by JWN Andrewes
Quipucuna, Pichincha, Ecuador, 1989

Their diet consists almost entirely of aquatic invertebrates, particularly insect larvae and molluscs. They may also take some fish.

References

1. Clements, J. F., P. C. Rasmussen, T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, T. A. Fredericks, J. A. Gerbracht, D. Lepage, A. Spencer, S. M. Billerman, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2023. The eBird/Clements checklist of Birds of the World: v2023. Downloaded from https://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
2. Avibase
3. Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive (retrieved Apr 2018)
4. BF Member observations

• List of references

Recommended Citation

• BirdForum Opus contributors. (2025) Torrent Duck. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 20 March 2025 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Torrent_Duck

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