African Black Duck

Anas sparsa

Rivers. Dark brown with white-spotted upperparts; bill grey; legs orange.

Ducks, Geese

Not Endemic

Description

Uncommon resident. Characterised by dark grey-brown plumage with bold white spots on wings and back and iridescent blue speculum with white border. Immature browner, spots buffy, belly barred white. When swimming appears short-necked and long-bodied. Mostly calls when flying in pairs: female utters a persistent loud quacking, male an almost imperceptible ‘weep… weep… weep’. During daytime, pairs inhabit streams and rivers with stony bottoms (often in well-wooded valleys), moving to larger, open waters at sunset to roost.

Quick Facts

Bird Family

Most of the region's ducks are either migratory to some extent or locally nomadic, their movements being dictated by food, rainfall and breeding requirements. Many show marked plumage differences between the sexes. Ducks and geese undergo a flightless four-to-eight-week period each year when they moult all their flight feathers simultaneously. The large Spur-winged and Egyptian Geese differ from geese of the northern hemisphere in having longer bills and legs, the African Pygmy-Goose being our only representative of the ‘true' geese. Ducks of the genus *Dendrocygna* (whistling ducks), which include the White-faced and Fulvous whistling ducks, differ from those of other genera in having close-set legs placed well back on the body. This enables them to stand erect and walk without waddling. In addition they show no sexual dimorphism and have whistling voices. In contrast, ducks of the genus *Anas*, often referred to as dabbling ducks, have widely spaced legs placed centrally on the body. This causes them to stand with the body horizontally and to walk with a waddle. They are further typified by quacking voices.