Ruddy shelduck

Scientific name: Tadorna ferruginea

Country: Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Belarus, Belgium, Bhutan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, China, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Egypt, Ethiopia, Finland, France, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Guinea-Bissau, Hong Kong, Iceland, India, Iran, Iraq, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Korea, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lebanon, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Malta, Mauritania, Moldova, Mongolia, Morocco, Myanmar, Nepal, Netherlands, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Syria, Taiwan, Tajikistan, Thailand, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, Yemen, Yugoslavia

Continent: Africa, Europe, Asia

Diet: Grasses - graminivore, seeds - granivore, insects - insectivore, molluscs - molluscivore, fish - piscivore

Food & feeding: Omnivore

Habitats: Freshwater, desert and semi-desert, temperate grassland, mountains

Conservation status: Not threatened

Relatives: Shelduck, torrent duck

Description: The ruddy shelduck is a large duck with a total length of about 65 cm. Its main body colour is a variable orange-brown with a black rump and tail. Adult males have a cream head and neck, and a narrow black collar during the breeding season. Females have a paler, almost white patch on the face and do not have a black collar.

Lifestyle: Ruddy shelducks spend more time away from water than most ducks. They will pluck grass and pick up insects in dry grassy areas and rummage around in softer soils for insect larvae. Like other ducks, they will search for tasty water weeds and insects by up-ending when they are feeding in shallow water.

Family & friends: Ruddy shelducks are strongly territorial around their nests, but otherwise they spend much of the year in the company of others, sometimes in flocks of several thousand. Family groups (both parents and the year's offspring) tend to stay together as a unit even after the chicks have fledged the nest.

Keeping in touch: Whines, whoops and trumpeting calls are used, especially when the birds are flying.

Growing up: Clutches of about 8 smooth white eggs are laid in a burrow, and the female incubates for about 28 days. The downy young are dark brown on the top part of the body and white below, with a mostly white face and grey bill and feet. Both parents tend the young, which fledge in about eight weeks.

Sometimes ruddy shelduck breed several kilometres from the nearest open water.