Birds · Anseriformes · Anatidae

Ruddy Shelduck

Tadorna ferruginea

Least Concern

The species is abundant and widely distributed; it faces no significant short-term risk. See full glossary

A duck of a size between a duck and a goose, with uniform orange-chestnut plumage and a paler, almost cream head and neck. The wing coverts are white and contrast strongly in flight with the black flight feathers and tail. The bill and legs are blackish. The male wears a fine black collar, more marked in summer; the female usually has a white patch on the face.

Weight

1.1 kg – 1.6 kg

Size

58 cm – 70 cm

Diet

Omnivore

Combines animal and plant food depending on availability.

Activity

Diurnal

Active mainly during the day.

Social structure

In pairs

Usually lives in pairs, sometimes for life.

Sighting difficulty

Easy

FreshwaterGrasslandOmnivore Diurnal In pairs Bird Freshwater Grassland

38countries 21parks42same family

Fun facts

GeneralA sacred bird in Tibetan Buddhism; it nests in burrows and on cliffs.
It is the only duck that nests regularly in Macaronesia.
It reached the Canary Islands by natural colonisation in the mid-1990s, presumably from Western Sahara or southern Morocco, and today breeds on Fuerteventura with occasional breeding on Tenerife and Lanzarote.
Its epithet ferruginea means "rusty" in Latin, after the tone of its plumage.

Life cycle & biology

Skeleton type: Vertebrate - internal bony skeleton (bird)
Habitat & environment: Brackish lagoons, saltflats and watered steppe
Size at birth: The chicks hatch with white down below and mottled black above
Gestation / incubation: 27 - 29 days
Litter / clutch size: 6-12 eggs, usually 8 or 9, ivory white. The chicks take to the water soon after hatching and fledge at around eight weeks

Sources consulted: IUCN Red List; Catálogo Nacional de Especies Amenazadas; macaronesian.org; ACBC Canaria; Zoobotánico de Jerez; eBird; Pallas 1764