It swims even against the current in white water and uses its stiff tail as a rudder; it is a powerful diver but reluctant to fly more than short distances.
From Torrent Duck
It is the only species in its genus, and is placed in the shelduck subfamily following the dissolution of the artificial group of the 'perching ducks'.
From Torrent Duck
A 2019 study found an ancient divergence and very restricted gene flow between the subspecies of the central and southern Andes: populations isolated by the terrain itself.
From Torrent Duck
It is a diving duck that hardly dives: the Netta feed more like dabbling ducks, sieving the water, and only submerge reluctantly.
From Red-crested Pochard
It swallows gastroliths of less than 1 mm to grind up seeds, and that preference for small stones makes it less prone to lead poisoning from shotgun pellets than the northern pintail, the mallard or the common pochard.
From Red-crested Pochard
After the Chernobyl accident in 1986, red-crested pochards wintering in Pakistan were found with intermediate levels of radioactivity.
From Red-crested Pochard
Its domestic form, the Muscovy duck, is kept throughout Latin America.
From Muscovy Duck
It is the only domestic duck in the world that does not descend from the mallard: every other one does.
From Muscovy Duck

Ecosystems