The Andaman teal (''Anas albogularis'') is a species of

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 t ...

endemic to the Andaman archipelago in the

Bay of Bengal The Bay of Bengal is the northeastern part of the Indian Ocean, bounded on the west and northwest by India, on the north by Bangladesh, and on the east by Myanmar and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands of India. Its southern limit is a line between ...

. The species was formerly considered as a subspecies of the

Sunda teal The Sunda teal (''Anas gibberifrons''), also known as the Bebek cokelat or Itik benjut, is a dabbling duck found in open wetlands in Indonesia. The species formerly included the Andaman teal ''Anas albogularis'' and the grey teal, ''Anas gracili ...

Taxonomy

The first formal description of the Andaman teal was by the English ornithologist

Allan Octavian Hume Allan Octavian Hume, CB ICS (4 June 1829 – 31 July 1912) was a British civil servant, political reformer, ornithologist and botanist who worked in British India. He was the founder of the Indian National Congress. A notable ornithologist, Hum ...

in 1873 under the

binomial name In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

''Mareca albogularis''. It is now placed with many other

dabbling ducks The Anatinae are a subfamily of the family Anatidae ( swans, geese and ducks). Its surviving members are the dabbling ducks, which feed mainly at the surface rather than by diving. The other members of the Anatinae are the extinct moa-nalo, a y ...

in the genus ''

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 wa ...

''. It was formerly considered as a subspecies of the

(''Anas gibberifrons'') that is found in Indonesia.

Description

The species is dark brown with buffy markings. The face and throat are pale with a white ring around the eye. The bill is bluish grey and the iris is red.

Distribution and habitat

Andaman teals are endemic to the

Andaman Islands The Andaman Islands () are an archipelago in the northeastern Indian Ocean about southwest off the coasts of Myanmar's Ayeyarwady Region. Together with the Nicobar Islands to their south, the Andamans serve as a maritime boundary between th ...

(India) and

Great Coco Island The Coco Islands ( my, ကိုကိုးကျွန်း) are a small group of islands in the northeastern Bay of Bengal. They are part of the Yangon Region of Myanmar. The islands are located south of the city of Yangon. Coco Island gr ...

(Burma). They are found in inland pools as well as mangroves and lagoons. A population estimate of 500 to 600 individuals was made in a survey conducted in 1995–98, and 674 were counted in 2005. Their population has been on the increase for the last few decades, and was most recently estimated in 2014 to have slightly more than 1,000 individuals.

Behaviour

They feed at night in rice fields. The breeding season is July to October and nests in reed patches. The nest is made of grass and about nine eggs forms the clutch. They were formerly considered to breed in tree hollows but recent studies found no evidence. They feed mainly on molluscs and arthropods.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q489883

Andaman teal The Andaman teal (''Anas albogularis'') is a species of duck endemic to the Andaman archipelago in the Bay of Bengal. The species was formerly considered as a subspecies of the Sunda teal. Taxonomy The first formal description of the Andaman ...

Birds of the Andaman Islands