South African Shelduck

Tadorna cana

Brackish waters. Grey head (female has white face) on rufous body; black bill and legs.

Ducks, Geese

Endemic

Description

Common endemic resident. A long-bodied duck with horizontal stance. Male told by solid grey head. Female shows highly variable amount of white on the face; differs from [White-faced Whistling Duck] in grey (not black) head and neck. In flight similar to [Egyptian Goose], but both sexes differ in richer rufous body and grey head; female distinguished by white face. Immature is duller than adult. Female initially has white circles around eyes, which extend over the face with maturity. Male utters a deep ‘hoogh’, ‘how’ or ‘honk’, the female alternating with a harsher ‘hark’. Females hiss while accompanying immatures. Courting pairs are noisy and aggressive. Pairs or flocks frequent brackish pans, dams and lakes, and large deep waters (especially when in wing-moult). Dives if pursued. May also be seen away from water when breeding. Mostly restricted to drier southern and western areas; rarely recorded in the moister northeast. Nomadic when not breeding.

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.