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White-headed Duck - BirdForum Opus

Revision as of 18:31, 24 January 2013 by Njlarsen (talk | contribs) (id, ref)
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Male
Photo by pale42
Malaga, Spain May 2009
Oxyura leucocephala

Identification

43-48cm

  • Chestnut brown body
  • Blue bill
  • White head
  • Black cap and neck

Female

  • Grey-brown body
  • White face
  • Dark bill, cap and a cheek stripe

Variation

Some birds show white undertail coverts

Distribution

Female
Photo by daniscoping
Laguna de Tarelo, Cadiz, southern Spain, March 2004

Patchily distributed Mediterranean basin Spain and North Africa to central Asia.

The integrity of the Spanish population threatened by hybridization with the imported Ruddy Duck

Taxonomy

This is a monotypic species[1].

Habitat

Large tracts of open water with dense stands of aquatic plants.

Behaviour

Diet

The diet includes aquatic invertebrates and vegetation.

References

  1. Clements, JF. 2009. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to December 2009. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019.
  2. Birdforum thread discussing id of this species

Recommended Citation

External Links

Retrieved from ‘https://www.birdforum.net/wiki/index.php?title=White-headed_Duck&oldid=191433’
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