Latin name - Tadorna tadorna
A large duck, more goose-like in size and shape, with an obvious red
bill, blackish-green head, white and black body with an orange band around
the chest. They can be found all around the coast on estuaries, mudflats
and sandy shores where they filter the mud or wet sand for their staple
food of Hydrobia ulvea, a tiny snail. Their bills, like all ducks, have
tiny plates known as lamellae along each side which they use when filtering.
Males have a knob on the bill while the females have a narrower orange
band around the chest. The young have an orange band, a white face and
throat, greyish-brown plumage and lack the orange band. |