South African Shelduck
| South African Shelduck | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Adult female. | |
| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Anseriformes |
| Family: | Anatidae |
| Subfamily: | Tadorninae |
| Genus: | Tadorna |
| Species: | T. cana |
| Binomial name | |
| Tadorna cana (Gmelin, 1789) | |
The South African Shelduck or Cape Shelduck, Tadorna cana, is a species of shelduck, a group of large goose-like birds which are part of the bird family Anatidae, which also includes the swans,geese and ducks. The Anatidae article should be referred to for an overview of this group of birds.
This is a 64 cm long bird which breeds in southern Africa, mainly in Namibia and South Africa. In the southern winter, many birds move north-east from the breeding range to favoured moulting grounds, where sizable concentrations occur.
This species is mainly associated with lakes and rivers in fairly open country, breeding in disused mammal holes, usually those of the Aardvark.
Adult South African Shelduck have ruddy bodies and wings strikingly marked with black, white and green. The male has a grey head, and the female has a white face and black crown, nape and neck sides.
South African Shelduck is one of the species to which the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA) applies.
The genus name Tadorna comes from Celtic roots and means "pied waterfowl", essentially the same as the English "shelduck".
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