The Brazilian teal or Brazilian duck (''Amazonetta brasiliensis'') is the only

duck Duck is the common name for numerous species of waterfowl in the family Anatidae. Ducks are generally smaller and shorter-necked than swans and geese, which are members of the same family. Divided among several subfamilies, they are a form ...

in the

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...

''Amazonetta''. It is widely distributed in eastern South America.

Taxonomy

The Brazilian teal was formally described in 1789 by the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin in his revised and expanded edition of

Carl Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his Nobility#Ennoblement, ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné#Blunt, Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalise ...

's '' Systema Naturae''. He placed it with all the other ducks, swans and geese in the

Anas ''Anas'' is a genus of dabbling ducks. It includes the pintails, most teals, and the mallard and its close relatives. It formerly included additional species but following the publication of a molecular phylogenetic study in 2009 the genus was s ...

'' and coined the binomial name ''Anas brasiliensis''. Gmelin based his description on the ''Mareca alia species'' (the second Mareca) that was described in 1648 by the German naturalist

Georg Marcgrave Georg Marcgrave (originally german: Georg Marggraf, also spelled ''"Marcgraf" " Markgraf"'') (1610 – 1644) was a German naturalist and astronomer, whose posthumously published ''Historia Naturalis Brasiliae'' was a major contribution to early mo ...

in his ''Historia Naturalis Brasiliae''. The Brazilian teal is now the only species placed in the genus ''Amazonetta'' that was introduced by the German zoologist

Hans von Boetticher Hans von Boetticher (30 August 1886 – 20 January 1958) was a German zoologist who worked on ornithology and entomology. Boetticher was employed at the natural history museum in Coburg. Several of his works deal with the higher level taxonomy of ...

in 1929. It was formerly considered a ''

perching duck The term perching ducks is used colloquially to mean any species of ducks distinguished by their readiness to perch high in trees Until the late 20th century, perching ducks meant ''Cairinini'', a tribe of ducks in the duck, goose and swan family ...

'', but more recent analyses indicate that it belongs to a clade of South American dabbling ducks which also includes the

crested duck The crested duck or South American crested duck (''Lophonetta specularioides'') is a species of duck native to South America, the belonging to the monotypic genus ''Lophonetta''. It is sometimes included in ''Anas'', but it belongs to a South Am ...

, the

bronze-winged duck The bronze-winged duck (''Speculanas specularis'') also known as the spectacled duck, is a dabbling duck and the sole member of its genus ''Speculanas''. It is often placed in ''Anas'' with most other dabbling ducks, but its closest relative is ...

, and possibly the steamer ducks. Two subspecies are recognised: * ''A. b. brasiliensis'' (Gmelin, 1789) – the

nominate race In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics ( morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all specie ...

, found in Brazil, Suriname, Guyana, French Guiana, central Venezuela, eastern Colombia, and northeastern Peru * ''A. b. ipecutiri'' (

Vieillot Louis Pierre Vieillot (10 May 1748, Yvetot – 24 August 1830, Sotteville-lès-Rouen) was a French ornithologist. Vieillot is the author of the first scientific descriptions and Linnaean names of a number of birds, including species he collect ...

, 1816) – found in Brazil, northern Argentina, eastern Bolivia, Uruguay, and Paraguay

Description

The

s are light brown in colour. Drakes distinguish themselves from females in having red

beak The beak, bill, or rostrum is an external anatomical structure found mostly in birds, but also in turtles, non-avian dinosaurs and a few mammals. A beak is used for eating, preening, manipulating objects, killing prey, fighting, probing for foo ...

s and legs, and in having a distinctive pale grey area on the side of its head and neck. The colour of these limbs is much duller in females. File:Amazonetta brasiliensis-female.jpg, Female at Costanera Sur,

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

File:Amazonetta brasiliensis-male.jpg, Male at Costanera Sur,

Distribution and habitat

They can be found throughout eastern

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the sout ...

, from central Brazil, to Uruguay, to northern and eastern Argentina, Paraguay, central Venezuela, northeastern Peru, Suriname, Guyana, French Guiana, eastern Bolivia, and eastern Colombia. Their preferred habitat is a body of freshwater away from the coast with dense vegetation nearby.

Behaviour

Brazilian teal live in pairs or in small groups of up to twenty birds. Both parents look after their hatchlings. They eat seeds, fruits, roots and insect, while ducklings eat only

insect Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body ( head, thorax and abdomen), three ...

Status

They are plentiful and are listed as of

Least Concern A least-concern species is a species that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as evaluated as not being a focus of species conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wild. T ...

References

External links

Short description and pictures
* {{Taxonbar, from=Q456423 Anatinae Ducks Birds of South America Birds of the Guianas Birds of Brazil Birds of Venezuela Birds of Argentina Birds of Uruguay Birds described in 1789 Taxa named by Johann Friedrich Gmelin