About Tadorna tadorna (Linnaeus, 1758)
Description: The common shelduck resembles a small, short-necked goose in both size and shape. It is a distinctive bird, with a reddish-pink bill, pink feet, a white body marked with chestnut patches, a black belly, and a dark green head and neck. Its wing coverts are white, primary flight feathers are black, and secondary flight feathers are green (only visible when the bird is in flight) and chestnut. The underwings are almost completely white. The sexes are similar in appearance, but the female is smaller and has some white facial markings. In contrast, the male has especially sharply defined colors during the breeding season, with a bright red bill that has a prominent knob on the forehead. Ducklings are white, with black markings on the cap, hindneck, wings, and back. Juveniles have similar coloration to ducklings: they are greyish on the upper body and mostly white on the lower body, but already show the same wing pattern as adult birds. The common shelduck's call is a loud honk. Distribution and habitat: This species breeds in temperate Eurosiberia. Most populations migrate to subtropical regions for winter, but the species is mostly non-migratory in westernmost Europe, with only movements to preferred moulting grounds such as the Wadden Sea on the north German coast. The common shelduck is common along the coastlines of Great Britain and Ireland, where it is referred to simply as shelduck, and it frequents salt marshes and estuaries there. It often nests inside rabbit burrows. Sightings of the common shelduck are rare in North America, where it is recorded as an infrequent visitor to the United States and Canada. It has also been recorded in the Caribbean, with most records coming from Barbados. In South America, there is one recorded sighting of the species in Colombia.
