The white-backed duck (''Thalassornis leuconotus'') is a

waterbird A water bird, alternatively waterbird or aquatic bird, is a bird that lives on or around water. In some definitions, the term ''water bird'' is especially applied to birds in freshwater ecosystems, although others make no distinction from seabi ...

of the family

Anatidae The Anatidae are the biological family of water birds that includes ducks, geese, and swans. The family has a cosmopolitan distribution, occurring on all the world's continents except Antarctica. These birds are adapted for swimming, floating ...

. It is distinct from all other ducks, but most closely related to the

whistling duck The whistling ducks or tree ducks are a subfamily, Dendrocygninae, of the duck, goose and swan family of birds, Anatidae. In other taxonomic schemes, they are considered a separate family, Dendrocygnidae. Some taxonomists list only one genu ...

s in the subfamily

Dendrocygninae The whistling ducks or tree ducks are a subfamily, Dendrocygninae, of the duck, goose and swan family of birds, Anatidae. In other taxonomic schemes, they are considered a separate family, Dendrocygnidae. Some taxonomists list only one genus, ...

, though also showing some similarities to the

stiff-tailed duck The stiff-tailed ducks, the genus ''Oxyura'', are part of the Oxyurini tribe of ducks. All have, as their name implies, long, stiff tail feathers, which are erected when the bird is resting. All have relatively large, swollen bills. These are ...

s in the subfamily

Oxyurinae The Oxyurini are a tribe of the duck subfamily of birds, the Anatinae. It has been subject of considerable debate about its validity and circumscription. Some taxonomic authorities place the group in its own subfamily, the ''Oxyurinae''. Most of ...

. It is the only member of the genus ''Thalassornis''.

Description

These

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweigh ...

s are well adapted for diving. On occasions they have been observed to stay under water for up to half a minute. They search especially for the bulbs of

waterlilies ''Water Lilies'' (or ''Nymphéas'', ) is a series of approximately 250 oil paintings by French Impressionist Claude Monet (1840–1926). The paintings depict his flower garden at his home in Giverny, and were the main focus of his artistic p ...

, but also seeds and leaves of waterlilies and other water plants and the young feed on lake flies larvae as well. From danger, they also escape preferentially by diving; hence, the namesake white back is hardly visible in life. File:White-backed Duck RWD1.jpg File:Weißrückenente Thalassornis 050501.jpg File:White-backed Duck RWD3.jpg File:Thalassornis leuconotus 5zz.jpg File:Thalassornis leuconotus 2zz.jpg

Distribution and habitat

White-backed ducks live in Africa, especially between

Senegal Senegal,; Wolof: ''Senegaal''; Pulaar: 𞤅𞤫𞤲𞤫𞤺𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭 (Senegaali); Arabic: السنغال ''As-Sinighal'') officially the Republic of Senegal,; Wolof: ''Réewum Senegaal''; Pulaar : 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 � ...

and

Chad Chad (; ar, تشاد , ; french: Tchad, ), officially the Republic of Chad, '; ) is a landlocked country at the crossroads of North and Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to the north, Sudan to the east, the Central African Republic ...

in the west,

Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...

in the east, and

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

in the south. Their habitat consists of lakes, ponds, swamps and marshes where they are well camouflaged against predators.

Subspecies

There are two subspecies, ''Thalassornis leuconotus leuconotus'' and ''Thalassornis leuconotus insularis''. The latter lives entirely on

Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...

and is considered endangered as a result of hunting, habitat loss and the introduction of competing exotic species.

Conservation

The white-backed duck is one of the species to which the ''Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds'' (

AEWA The Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds, or African-Eurasian Waterbird Agreement (AEWA) is an independent international treaty developed under the auspices of the United Nations Environment Programme's Conventio ...

) applies. Woolaver and Nichols conducted a nesting survey of the Madagascar race in 2001 at Lake Antsamaka in western Madagascar. They found a total of 37, indicating the significance of this single site for the conservation of this insular subspecies. Young, et al. (2006) suggested that an earlier population estimate of 2,500–5,000 total birds in Madagascar by Delany and Scott may be too optimistic. Its African population may be in the range of 10,000 to 25,000 birds.Johnsgard, P. 2010

Notes

References

* Kear, J. 2005. ''Ducks, Geese and Swans.'' 2 vol. Oxford, UK: Oxford Univ. Press. * Woolaver. L., and R. Nichols. 2006. Nesting survey of the white-backed duck at Lake Antsamaka in western Madagascar. ''TWSG News'' 15:34–37. * Young, H. G., R. Safford, F. Hawkins, R. Rabarisoa, & F. Razafindrajao, 2006. Madagascar whitebacked duck: What is its true status? ''TWSG News'' 15:38–40. *Delany, S., & D. A. Scott. 2006. ''Waterfowl Population Estimates.'' 4th ed. Netherlands: Wetlands International. * Johnsgard, P. 201
"The World’s Waterfowl in the 21st Century: A 2010 Supplement to Ducks, Geese, and Swans of the World"

External links

Species text in The Atlas of Southern African Birds
{{Taxonbar, from=Q529857

white-backed duck The white-backed duck (''Thalassornis leuconotus'') is a waterbird of the family Anatidae. It is distinct from all other ducks, but most closely related to the whistling ducks in the subfamily Dendrocygninae, though also showing some similarities ...

Birds of Sub-Saharan Africa