Australian Shelduck
Order: Anseriformes
Family: Anatidae
Genus/Species: Tadorna tadornoides
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| Photo by Marc Bretzfelder |
Description
The Australian Shelduck is a large dark plumaged duck weighing from 1.3 to 1.5 kg, and standing 55 to 73 cm tall. Males are noticeably larger than females. Their heads, backs, bellies, and tails are blackish with green metallic highlights. There is a narrow white neck band separating the black head from the brown breast. The female's breast feathers are a rich chestnut, the male's are a paler cinnamon. The colorful wings have black primaries, metallic green secondaries, chestnut tertials, and white upper and under wing coverts. Females have rings of white feathers around the eye and the base of the bill. Juvenile birds are duller overall in coloration with some white or grey tips on body feathers. Both sexes produce a strange assortment of goose-like honks, grunts, and whistles. The female's vocalizations are higher in pitch.
Distribution and Habitat
The Australian Shelduck is restricted to two widely separated eastern and western populations in Australia. The larger eastern population is centered in the province of Victoria, extending north into New South Wales and south onto the island of Tasmania. Breeding territories include freshwater swamps, brackish swamps, and inland lakes. They utilize grasslands, open woodlands, pastures, and agricultural fields for feeding. Post breeding birds form large flocks of thousands of birds in prime feeding or moulting habitat.
Diet
Australian Shelducks are primarily grazing birds. They feed on short grasses and forbs in pasturelands. Shelducks also dabble in shallow waters in search of aquatic invertebrates and submerged vegetation.
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| Photo by Marc Bretzfelder |
Reproduction
Hollow trees are the preferred nesting site. Where suitable tree cavities are scarce, shelducks will nest in rock crevices, shallow caves, holes in banks, or rabbit burrows. The female incubates five to 14 cream-colored eggs for 30-33 days while her mate defends the surrounding territory. The newly hatched young leap from the nest cavity and are led by their parents on a perilous overland journey to their brooding territory. They remain together in a family group for the first six weeks of the ducklings' lives. Once the young birds fledge they are completely independent.
Conservation
Never popular as a table bird, the Australian Shelduck has not been victimized by overhunting. What shooting occurs stems from their habit of grazing in irrigated agricultural fields, causing damage to cereal and vegetable crops. Populations may have actually grown in recent years due to the increase of irrigation in agriculture and the construction of new water impoundments.
References
Del Hoyo, J., Elliot, A. and J. Sargatal. eds. 1992. Handbook of the Birds of the World. Vol. 1. Ostrich to Ducks. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona.
Madge, S. and H. Burn. 1988. Waterfowl. Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston.
Pizzey, G. and R. Doyle. 1980. Birds of Australia. Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ.
Todd, F. S. 1996. Natural History of the Waterfowl.
Ibis Publishing Co., San Diego, CA.
Please note: There are no Australian Shelducks at the Zoo.
