Shelduck

Facts

IUCN LEAST CONCERN (LC)

Facts about this animal

The shelduck is a large duck of 0.98-1.45 kg in males and 0.8-1.25 in females, larger than a mallard but smaller than geese. It has a particularly prominent red bill, black-green head, and chestnut and white upperparts. In flight, shelducks look heavy and have slow-beating wings.

The female lays 7-12 creamish eggs into a nest sited usually in cavities, burrows, haystacks etc., or occasionally an open nest, which she incubates alone for 30 days.

Shelduck feed on invertebrates, small shellfish and aquatic snails.

Did you know?
that people along the North Sea coast call the shelducks "cave geese" because they are particularly fond of burrows as nesting sites? They do not excavate the holes but rather use the abandoned tunnels of rabbits or foxes. Perhaps as the result of a shortage of adeqaute nesting sites, several females may use the same nest.

Factsheet
Class	AVES
Order	ANSERIFORMES
Suborder	ANSERES
Family	ANATIDAE
Name (Scientific)	Tadorna tadorna
Name (English)	Shelduck
Name (French)	Tadorne de belon
Name (German)	Brandgans
Name (Spanish)	Tarro blanco
Local names	Czech: Husice liscí Dutch: Bergeend Estonian: Ristpart Finnish: Ristisorsa Greek: Barbára Hungarian: Bütykös ásólút Italian: Volpoca Polish: Ohar Portuguese: Pato-branco Swedish: Gravand
CITES Status	Not listed
CMS Status	Appendix II (as Anatidae spp.) Included in AEWA

Photo Copyright by
Adrian Pingstone

Distribution

Distribution
Range	Asia: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, Hong Kong. India, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Korea, PDR, Korea, Rep., Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Mongolia Myanmar, Nepal Oman, Pakistan, Philippines, Saudi Arabia ,Syria, Taiwan, Tajikistan, Thailand, Turkmenistan, United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan, Viet Nam, Yemen Europe: Albania, Armenia, Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland. Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, former Yug. Rep., Malta, Moldova, Montenegro, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russian Fed., Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom North and West Africa: Algeria, Egypt, Guinea-Bissau, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Tunisia Vagrants in some more countries on all three continents.
Habitat	Estuaries, coasts, freshwater wetlands
Wild population	The global population is estimated to be 580,000 to 710,000 individuals by Wetlands International (2002).
Zoo population	779 reported to ISIS (2006).

In the Zoo

How this animal should be transported

For air transport, Container Note 18 of the IATA Live Animals Regulations should be followed.

Find this animal on ZooLex

Photo Copyright by
Colin Burnett

Why do zoos keep this animal