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The falcated duck or falcated teal (''Mareca falcata'') is a
gadwall The gadwall (''Mareca strepera'') is a common and widespread dabbling duck in the family Anatidae. Taxonomy The gadwall was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his landmark 1758 10th edition of ''Systema Naturae''. DNA studies have shown that ...
-sized dabbling
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 ...
from the east
Palearctic The Palearctic or Palaearctic is the largest of the eight biogeographic realms of the Earth. It stretches across all of Eurasia north of the foothills of the Himalayas, and North Africa. The realm consists of several bioregions: the Euro-Sibe ...
(East Siberia and Mongolia to North Japan; wintering to India).


Taxonomy

The closest relative of this species is the
gadwall The gadwall (''Mareca strepera'') is a common and widespread dabbling duck in the family Anatidae. Taxonomy The gadwall was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his landmark 1758 10th edition of ''Systema Naturae''. DNA studies have shown that ...
, followed by the
wigeon The wigeons or widgeons are a group of birds, dabbling ducks currently classified in the genus ''Mareca'' along with two other species. There are three extant species of wigeon, in addition to one recently extinct species. Biology There are ...
s. The species was assigned to the proposed genus ''Mareca'' after its previous placement 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 ...
'' was found to be
paraphyletic In taxonomy (general), taxonomy, a group is paraphyletic if it consists of the group's most recent common ancestor, last common ancestor and most of its descendants, excluding a few Monophyly, monophyletic subgroups. The group is said to be pa ...
in 2009. There are many species that have
mitochondrial DNA Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA or mDNA) is the DNA located in mitochondria, cellular organelles within eukaryotic cells that convert chemical energy from food into a form that cells can use, such as adenosine triphosphate (ATP). Mitochondrial D ...
lineages that are
phylogenetically In biology, phylogenetics (; from Greek φυλή/ φῦλον [] "tribe, clan, race", and wikt:γενετικός, γενετικός [] "origin, source, birth") is the study of the evolutionary history and relationships among or within groups o ...
intermixed with other species, but studies have rarely tested the cause of such paraphyly. In a study that was conducted, there were tested two hypotheses that could explain mitochondrial paraphyly of Holarctic gadwalls (''Anas strepera'') with respect to Asian falcated ducks (''A. falcata''). First, hybridization could have resulted in falcated duck mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) introgressing into the gadwall gene pool. Second, gadwalls and falcated ducks could have diverged so recently that mtDNA lineages have not sorted to reciprocal monophyly. They used coalescent analyses of three independent loci to distinguish between these two hypotheses. Two lines of evidence support introgression. First, analyses of the three loci combined show that some introgression is necessary to explain current genetic diversity in gadwalls. Second, they generated alternative predictions regarding time since divergence estimated from mtDNA: falcated ducks and gadwalls would have diverged between 65,000 and 700,000 years
before present Before Present (BP) years, or "years before present", is a time scale used mainly in archaeology, geology and other scientific disciplines to specify when events occurred relative to the origin of practical radiocarbon dating in the 1950s. Becaus ...
(ybp) under the introgression hypothesis and between 11,000 and 76,000 ybp under the
incomplete lineage sorting Incomplete lineage sorting, also termed hemiplasy, deep coalescence, retention of ancestral polymorphism, or trans-species polymorphism, describes a phenomenon in population genetics when ancestral gene copies fail to coalesce (looking backwards i ...
hypothesis. The two independent nuclear introns indicated that these species diverged between 210,000 and 5,200,000 ybp, which did not overlap the predicted time for incomplete lineage sorting. These analyses also suggested that ancient introgression (similar to 14,000 ybp) has resulted in the widespread distribution and high frequency of falcated-like mtDNA (5.5% of haplotypes) in North America. This is the first study to use a rigorous quantitative framework to reject incomplete lineage sorting as the cause of mitochondrial paraphyly.


Distribution and habitat

The falcated duck breeds in eastern Asia. It nests in eastern Russia, in
Khabarovsk Khabarovsk ( rus, Хабaровск, a=Хабаровск.ogg, r=Habárovsk, p=xɐˈbarəfsk) is the largest types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative centre of Khabarovsk Krai, Russia,Law #109 located from the China ...
, Primorskiy,
Amur The Amur (russian: река́ Аму́р, ), or Heilong Jiang (, "Black Dragon River", ), is the world's List of longest rivers, tenth longest river, forming the border between the Russian Far East and Northeast China, Northeastern China (Inne ...
, Chita,
Buryatia Buryatia, officially the Republic of Buryatia (russian: Республика Бурятия, r=Respublika Buryatiya, p=rʲɪsˈpublʲɪkə bʊˈrʲætʲɪjə; bua, Буряад Улас, Buryaad Ulas, , mn, Буриад Улс, Buriad Uls), is ...
,
Irkutsk Irkutsk ( ; rus, Иркутск, p=ɪrˈkutsk; Buryat language, Buryat and mn, Эрхүү, ''Erhüü'', ) is the largest city and administrative center of Irkutsk Oblast, Russia. With a population of 617,473 as of the 2010 Census, Irkutsk is ...
,
Tuva Tuva (; russian: Тува́) or Tyva ( tyv, Тыва), officially the Republic of Tuva (russian: Респу́блика Тыва́, r=Respublika Tyva, p=rʲɪˈspublʲɪkə tɨˈva; tyv, Тыва Республика, translit=Tyva Respublika ...
, eastern
Krasnoyarsk Krasnoyarsk ( ; rus, Красноя́рск, a=Ru-Красноярск2.ogg, p=krəsnɐˈjarsk) (in semantic translation - Red Ravine City) is the largest city and administrative center of Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia. It is situated along the Yeni ...
, south central
Sakha Sakha, officially the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia),, is the largest republic of Russia, located in the Russian Far East, along the Arctic Ocean, with a population of roughly 1 million. Sakha comprises half of the area of its governing Far Eas ...
Sakhalin Sakhalin ( rus, Сахали́н, r=Sakhalín, p=səxɐˈlʲin; ja, 樺太 ''Karafuto''; zh, c=, p=Kùyèdǎo, s=库页岛, t=庫頁島; Manchu: ᠰᠠᡥᠠᠯᡳᠶᠠᠨ, ''Sahaliyan''; Orok: Бугата на̄, ''Bugata nā''; Nivkh: ...
, extreme northeastern
North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu River, Y ...
and northern China, in northeastern
Inner Mongolia Inner Mongolia, officially the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China. Its border includes most of the length of China's border with the country of Mongolia. Inner Mongolia also accounts for a ...
, and northern
Heilongjiang Heilongjiang () formerly romanized as Heilungkiang, is a province in northeast China. The standard one-character abbreviation for the province is (). It was formerly romanized as "Heilungkiang". It is the northernmost and easternmost province ...
, and in northern Japan,
Hokkaidō is Japan's second largest island and comprises the largest and northernmost prefecture, making up its own region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō from Honshu; the two islands are connected by the undersea railway Seikan Tunnel. The la ...
,
Aomori is the capital city of Aomori Prefecture, in the Tōhoku region of Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 278,964 in 136,457 households, and a population density of 340 people per square kilometer spread over the city's total area of ...
, and the
Kuril Islands The Kuril Islands or Kurile Islands (; rus, Кури́льские острова́, r=Kuril'skiye ostrova, p=kʊˈrʲilʲskʲɪjə ɐstrɐˈva; Japanese: or ) are a volcanic archipelago currently administered as part of Sakhalin Oblast in the ...
. It is widely recorded well outside its normal range, but the popularity of this beautiful duck in captivity clouds the origins of these extralimital birds. This
dabbling duck 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 yo ...
is strongly migratory and winters in much of Southeast Asia. In India:
Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 1950 ...
, Bihār,
Assam Assam (; ) is a state in northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . The state is bordered by Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh to the north; Nagaland and Manipur ...
, eastern Haryāna. Also in northern
Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...
, northern and central
Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...
, northern
Laos Laos (, ''Lāo'' )), officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic ( Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ, French: République démocratique populaire lao), is a socialist ...
to the
Mekong River The Mekong or Mekong River is a trans-boundary river in East Asia and Southeast Asia. It is the world's twelfth longest river and the third longest in Asia. Its estimated length is , and it drains an area of , discharging of water annuall ...
, northern
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(from about
Hanoi Hanoi or Ha Noi ( or ; vi, Hà Nội ) is the capital and second-largest city of Vietnam. It covers an area of . It consists of 12 urban districts, one district-leveled town and 17 rural districts. Located within the Red River Delta, Hanoi is ...
north), and China:
Hainan Hainan (, ; ) is the smallest and southernmost province of the People's Republic of China (PRC), consisting of various islands in the South China Sea. , the largest and most populous island in China,The island of Taiwan, which is slightly l ...
,
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,
Yunnan Yunnan , () is a landlocked Provinces of China, province in Southwest China, the southwest of the People's Republic of China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 48.3 million (as of 2018). The capital of the province is ...
,
Guangxi Guangxi (; ; Chinese postal romanization, alternately romanized as Kwanghsi; ; za, Gvangjsih, italics=yes), officially the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region (GZAR), is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of the People's Republic ...
,
Guangdong Guangdong (, ), alternatively romanized as Canton or Kwangtung, is a coastal province in South China on the north shore of the South China Sea. The capital of the province is Guangzhou. With a population of 126.01 million (as of 2020) ...
,
Fujian Fujian (; alternately romanized as Fukien or Hokkien) is a province on the southeastern coast of China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, Guangdong to the south, and the Taiwan Strait to the east. Its capi ...
,
Jiangxi Jiangxi (; ; formerly romanized as Kiangsi or Chianghsi) is a landlocked province in the east of the People's Republic of China. Its major cities include Nanchang and Jiujiang. Spanning from the banks of the Yangtze river in the north int ...
, northern
Hunan Hunan (, ; ) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, part of the South Central China region. Located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze watershed, it borders the province-level divisions of Hubei to the north, Jiangxi to ...
,
Hubei Hubei (; ; alternately Hupeh) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, and is part of the Central China region. The name of the province means "north of the lake", referring to its position north of Dongting Lake. The prov ...
,
Zhejiang Zhejiang ( or , ; , also romanized as Chekiang) is an eastern, coastal province of the People's Republic of China. Its capital and largest city is Hangzhou, and other notable cities include Ningbo and Wenzhou. Zhejiang is bordered by Jiang ...
,
Anhui Anhui , (; formerly romanized as Anhwei) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, part of the East China region. Its provincial capital and largest city is Hefei. The province is located across the basins of the Yangtze River ...
,
Jiangsu Jiangsu (; ; pinyin: Jiāngsū, Postal romanization, alternatively romanized as Kiangsu or Chiangsu) is an Eastern China, eastern coastal Provinces of the People's Republic of China, province of the China, People's Republic of China. It is o ...
,
Shandong Shandong ( , ; ; alternately romanized as Shantung) is a coastal province of the People's Republic of China and is part of the East China region. Shandong has played a major role in Chinese history since the beginning of Chinese civilizati ...
, southern
Hebei Hebei or , (; alternately Hopeh) is a northern province of China. Hebei is China's sixth most populous province, with over 75 million people. Shijiazhuang is the capital city. The province is 96% Han Chinese, 3% Manchu, 0.8% Hui, an ...
,
Shanxi Shanxi (; ; formerly romanised as Shansi) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China and is part of the North China region. The capital and largest city of the province is Taiyuan, while its next most populated prefecture-lev ...
, northern
Shaanxi Shaanxi (alternatively Shensi, see #Name, § Name) is a landlocked Provinces of China, province of China. Officially part of Northwest China, it borders the province-level divisions of Shanxi (NE, E), Henan (E), Hubei (SE), Chongqing (S), Sichu ...
. It is gregarious outside the breeding season and will then form large flocks. It is estimated that there are about 89,000 falcated ducks in total; this is much higher than the previous population estimate of 35,000 worldwide. During a survey done in Central China, a migratory area in the winter for the falcated duck, the numbers of animals sighted was minimal. In 2004 only 4 were recorded, and in 2005 only 10. This is a species of lowland wetlands, such as water meadows or lakes, and usually feeds by dabbling for plant food or grazing. The National Nature Reserves supported high proportions of eastern China's populations of globally threatened Anatidae species (IUCN, 2009): 30% of the near threatened falcated duck (''Anas falcata'') populations. There is about twenty-seven percent of falcated duck species existing in the National Nature Reserves.


Migration

The falcated duck has a large range, with an estimated global extent of occurrence of . The breeding range of the falcated duck is from eastern
Siberia Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a part of ...
and
Mongolia Mongolia; Mongolian script: , , ; lit. "Mongol Nation" or "State of Mongolia" () is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south. It covers an area of , with a population of just 3.3 million, ...
to northeastern China and northern Japan with wintering grounds in the northern part of southeast Asia to northeastern India. There have also been a small number of sightings of falcated ducks in western North America and Poland. However, these sightings have been attributed to
vagrants Vagrancy is the condition of homelessness without regular employment or income. Vagrants (also known as bums, vagabonds, rogues, tramps or drifters) usually live in poverty and support themselves by begging, scavenging, petty theft, tempora ...
and ducks that have escaped from captivity.


Identification

Males and females have similar lengths at . Their weight can range from , with males weighing more than their female counterparts. Wingspans range from . The breeding male is unmistakable. Most of the body plumage is finely vermiculated grey, with the long sickle-shaped
tertials Flight feathers (''Pennae volatus'') are the long, stiff, asymmetrically shaped, but symmetrically paired pennaceous feathers on the wings or tail of a bird; those on the wings are called remiges (), singular remex (), while those on the tai ...
, which give this species its name, hanging off its back. The large head is dark green with a white throat, and a dark green collar and bronzed
crown A crown is a traditional form of head adornment, or hat, worn by monarchs as a symbol of their power and dignity. A crown is often, by extension, a symbol of the monarch's government or items endorsed by it. The word itself is used, partic ...
. The
vent Vent or vents may refer to: Science and technology Biology *Vent, the cloaca region of an animal * Vent DNA polymerase, a thermostable DNA polymerase Geology *Hydrothermal vent, a fissure in a planet's surface from which geothermally heated wate ...
region is patterned in yellow, black and white. The female falcated duck is dark brown, with plumage much like a female
wigeon The wigeons or widgeons are a group of birds, dabbling ducks currently classified in the genus ''Mareca'' along with two other species. There are three extant species of wigeon, in addition to one recently extinct species. Biology There are ...
. Its long grey bill is an aid to identification. The eclipse male is like the female, but darker on the back and head. In flight both sexes show a pale grey underwing. The blackish speculum is bordered with a white bar on its inner edge. Young birds are buffer than the female and have short tertials. Juveniles have plumage similar to females of the species. These ducks are usually quiet except on breeding territory. The male duck has a shrill whistle ''tyu-tyu-vit…tyu-vit…tyu-tyu-vit'' (Dementiev and Gladkov 1952) and a quiet whistle ending with a wavering ''uit-trr'' (Flint et al. 1984). The female duck has a hoarse, quack, short two-syllable inciting call, and a high pitched, two to four syllable Decrescendo call (Lorenz and Von de Wall 1960).


Behavior


Diet and role in ecosystem

Falcated ducks have food habits generally consisting of small invertebrate and other insects as well as plant foods. They mainly eat vegetation or insects near to the water, consuming animals such as larvae, crustaceans, and mollusks. They likewise eat plant foods: leaves as well as seeds, grains, and nuts. Many assume that the falcated duck helps disperse seeds over large areas because of their diet. These ducks are primarily herbivorous. These ducks are hosts to a number of different parasites (ticks, fleas, lice) and thus carry diseases such as: the
West Nile virus West Nile virus (WNV) is a single-stranded RNA virus that causes West Nile fever. It is a member of the family ''Flaviviridae'', from the genus ''Flavivirus'', which also contains the Zika virus, dengue virus, and yellow fever virus. The virus ...
,
avian influenza Avian influenza, known informally as avian flu or bird flu, is a variety of influenza caused by viruses adapted to birds.
, avian pox, salmonellosis, staphylococcosis, and '' E. coli''. Moreover, they carry viruses, bacteria, fungi and protozoans that can be transferred to other creatures, for instance vertebrates and even humans.


Breeding and life cycle

The clutch is 6–10 eggs. Eggs are generally laid in late May. They have their nests on the ground in thick grasses, tussocks, swamped shrubbery, or hidden in deadwood. Usually the eggs are nested near water but have also been seen in small bushes approximately from the water. The eggs have a color of white with a pinkish yellow tint. Females incubate the eggs alone, 24–25 days in captivity. The males will leave the female during incubation. Falcated ducks have a very intricate courtship ritual. Females perform a series of inciting calls and other movements while preening behind the wings of their targeted male. Males use a courting method similar to others in the Anas genus, including an introductory shake, a neck-stretching burp call, a grunt whistle, and a head-up-tail-up display. During the mating season the falcated ducks form monogamous pairs that last throughout the mating season. It is not known how long the falcated duck lifespan is. There is also not much information on their territory size because these ducks are not studied as closely as other more popular species like swans or geese.


Hybridization

A fieldwork study at Hyo-ko Waterfowl Park, a nature preserve in Niigata, Japan, found what they presumed was a male hybrid of a falcated duck and a
Eurasian wigeon The Eurasian wigeon or European wigeon (''Mareca penelope''), also known as the widgeon or the wigeon, is one of three species of wigeon in the dabbling duck genus ''Mareca''. It is common and widespread within its Palearctic range. Taxonomy Th ...
. They have found these “wild” hybrids in several instances over the past few years. These birds shared morphological traits with both species. Still, most of the traits favored the falcated duck. It was reported that these hybrid birds have joined courting parties of Eurasian wigeon and even attempted to compete with wigeon males. Grunt-whistling, and burping calls being the method of inciting courtship, even resemble that of the falcated duck and not of the Eurasian wigeon. The hybrid bird most be closely watched, was quite sexually active, however, it is not yet known if they can reproduce with either of the female species. Hybridization between two different species often leaves the offspring sterile, but this genus shows a surprising amount of hybrid fertility. This hybrid species performed courtship rituals more closely related to the falcated duck, yet socially was active in Eurasian wigeon flocks. Successful reproduction was not seen between the hybrid species and a pure Eurasian wigeon female during the fieldwork study. Further study of hybrid avian species can help shed light onto avian reproduction and their evolutionary biology.


Conservation


Threats

A primary threat to the falcated duck is hunting, as people want them for food and their feathers. Their habitat loss is also caused by the drainage of the wetlands. Although the overall population of the falcated duck is larger than once believed and is no longer classified as an endangered species, it is still considered "near threatened" on the
IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...
's (or the International Union for the Conservation of Nature's) Animal Red List.


Human influence on population

The falcated duck requires coastal wetlands for its survival. One of the most ecologically sensitive areas in the world is the eastern end of Nanhui county, China, and is a site for the falcated duck during the migratory season. This area is crucial for the falcated duck due to its population being extremely low. Urbanization and economic growth of this area has led to a significant environmental disturbance in this area. A reclamation project to create artificial wetlands was started in 1999 and finished in 2005. Studies have been done to see if the artificial wetlands were as efficient as the natural ones, and although the artificial wetlands did see migratory shorebirds present, their population was not as high as the natural wetlands. Much more research needs to be done before the artificial wetlands can match the natural wetlands, and provide an acceptable habitat for the falcated duck. Around the time of the harvesting seasons during the Chinese spring festival of winter in Nanhui County of Shanghai, China, the pond managers drain the water in the pond in order to catch fish for commercial purposes. Around that time, the pond was dominated by falcated ducks roosting there. After the pond is drained it remains dry until the following spring when water is replenished for fresh cultivation. The time that the water is replenished is very critical for migrant waterbirds in the spring. If the water is replenished too late then the dry pond is inapt for shorebirds and herons.


Status and protection

The falcated duck is currently in a state of
near threatened A near-threatened species is a species which has been categorized as "Near Threatened" (NT) by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as that may be vulnerable to endangerment in the near future, but it does not currently qualify fo ...
on the
IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...
's Red List. They are protected under the
Migratory Bird Treaty Act The Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918 (MBTA), codified at (although §709 is omitted), is a United States federal law, first enacted in 1918 to implement the convention for the protection of migratory birds between the United States and Canada . ...
, and their overall population seems to be (for the most part) stable and growing. Falcated duck populations are present in a number of wildlife preservers, national parks and other protected areas, and zoos.


Proposed actions

There are several proposed plans of action in protecting the falcated duck. Conservationists are keen to continue monitoring populations that have unfortunately stopped breeding, and plan to petition for hunting and shooting regulations on both the local and national level, respectively. Conservationists are also aware as to the great lack of education in regards to waterfowl extinction. For hunters who make a living off of either using the falcated duck as a food source or from simple sport hunts, conservationists are looking for alternative employment opportunities. Finally, conservationists hope to improve the management and coordination of already existing nature reserves where the falcated duck is present.Madge, S.; Burn, H. 1988. Wildfowl. Christopher Helm, London.


References


Further reading

*


External links


Falcated Duck videos, photos, and sounds
on the Internet Bird Collection {{Taxonbar, from1=Q339781, from2=Q28106789
falcated duck The falcated duck or falcated teal (''Mareca falcata'') is a gadwall-sized dabbling duck from the east Palearctic (East Siberia and Mongolia to North Japan; wintering to India). Taxonomy The closest relative of this species is the gadwall, follo ...
Birds of Mongolia Birds of Manchuria Birds of North Asia Birds of Japan
falcated duck The falcated duck or falcated teal (''Mareca falcata'') is a gadwall-sized dabbling duck from the east Palearctic (East Siberia and Mongolia to North Japan; wintering to India). Taxonomy The closest relative of this species is the gadwall, follo ...
Taxa named by Johann Gottlieb Georgi