Philippine Duck
| Philippine Duck | ||||||||||||
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Philippine Duck |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Anas luzonica | ||||||||||||
| Fraser , 1839 |
The Philippines duck ( Anas luzonica ) is an Asian duck bird that is counted among the swimming ducks. It occurs only on some of the Philippine islands and is considered a typical island form of the mallard group.
The population of this species of duck is estimated to be less than 10,000 individuals. The Philippine duck is one of the species whose population is in decline.
Appearance
The Philippines duck is a mallard-like species of duck. It reaches a body length of 48 to 58 centimeters. The sexual dimorphism is only slightly pronounced in this species. Males are just slightly larger and lighter than the females.
The Philippine duck also has no seasonal dimorphism. One of its most important characteristics is the high-contrast cinnamon-colored neck and head. The latter has a dark brown crown, neck and eye-catching reins. The coat plumage is a little lighter than the neck. The body and the upper tail-coverts are darker. The cinnamon-colored neck merges with the gray-brown chest. In some individuals, the underside is noticeably gray. The legs are black-brown. The eyes are reddish hazel brown. Young ducks are a little less colorful. The sides of the head in particular are more clay-yellow than cinnamon-colored. The beak is darker than that of the adult Philippine duck.
The plain blue-gray beak with the black nail distinguishes this species from the spotted duck, which occasionally occurs in winter in the northern range of this duck species. The flight of the Philippine duck is as fast as that of the mallard . The shiny green wing mirror is particularly noticeable in flight . The large arm covers have a wide, velvety black end band. Males have a narrow, white terminal band. Females, on the other hand, only have a slightly lightened line. Both are not always clearly visible in flying Philippine ducks. The underside of the wing is white. The female voice is a deep, powerful croak. The males, on the other hand, utter a low, high-pitched whisper.
The chicks have a mallard-like downy dress and are olive-brown on the upper side of the body with a striking yellow face and neck. The headstock is dark. There is no ear patch. The spots on the sides of the body and the edges of the wings are relatively small and washed out. A brown ring, which is not completely closed, runs around the neck.
The moulting process of this species of duck has not been fully investigated. It probably changes its small plumage twice a year. The swing moult presumably takes place after the end of the reproductive period.
distribution
As the name suggests, the species of duck is common in most of the Philippine islands. It is absent on Palawan , Basilan and the Sulu Archipelago .
Flocks of up to 200 Philippine ducks can be observed in the Candaba river marshes on Luzon during the dry season . On Mindoro , up to 2,000 ducks gather in the salt lakes there after the salt harvest, when the basins fill with rain from November to December. Philippine ducks have already been observed as stray visitors in Japan. In addition, wanderers are relatively frequent in Taiwan.
Habitat and food
The Philippine duck's primary habitat is shallow freshwater bodies of water with a zone of vegetation that provides both food and cover for the ducks. It is occasionally observed on rivers that are exposed to the tidal range and also uses the wallows of water buffalo. It also occurs on rivers in still pristine forests and also uses saline lakes.
The Philippine duck looks for its food mainly in shallow water. It is an omnivorous species of duck that eats shellfish in addition to plants. It is quite possible that small fish as well as frogs and their tadpoles are also part of their food spectrum. It also eats rice and sprouts.
Food intake takes place predominantly in the early morning and late evening hours. Moonlit nights are also used for foraging. During the breeding season, the Philippine Duck can be seen mostly in pairs and small flocks. In the dry periods, when the seasonal waters that it uses for its reproduction dry up, it can also be seen in larger schools. Philippine ducks are generally shy birds that fly up quickly when humans approach.
Reproduction
One of the courtship gestures of the Philippine duck is the female's head dipping sideways. These courtship gestures are accompanied by weak croaking, which often leads to the male swimming sideways in a rigid posture towards the female. The male also shows the grunt whistle, which can also be observed in the mallard as a courtship gesture.
The breeding period extends from March to November. The peak of the breeding season is in July to August. The nest is built under vegetation on the banks. As a nesting place, rice fields that have not been worked on and are therefore heavily weeded are often used. The eggs are matt white and elliptical in shape. Philippine ducks often raise two clutches per year. The first full clutch has an average of 10 eggs. The second full clutch has an average of eight eggs. The breeding season is between 25 and 26 days.
Inventory development
The Philippine duck is a widespread, but by no means common, duck species in the Philippines. It is heavily hunted. Shot Philippine ducks are mainly offered in the markets from August to October and then again from January to March. During this time, they find themselves in large flocks on the saline lakes, which makes it easier to hunt them. There has been evidence since the 1980s that their stocks are declining. Habitat changes also contribute to this, for example the extensive drainage of swamps.
Animals kept in human care have been found to mate with the mallard as well as the spotted duck and the eyebrow duck. This hybridization tendency can pose a further threat.
A hunting ban is in the National Park Lake Naujan , Mount Iglit Baco National Park , Aurora Memorial National Park and Olango Wildlife Sanctuary. Other populations of the Philippine Duck were found in the Rajah Sikatuna Protected Landscape , the Mounts Palay-Palay-Mataas Na Gulod National Park , the Bulusan Volcano National Park , the Ligawasan and Agusan River Marshes , the Mount Guiting-guiting Natural Park and the Catanduanes Watershed Forest Reserve detected.
Keeping in human care
The Philippine duck is rarely kept by private breeders or shown in zoos. The first owner was a private Californian breeder who imported some individuals in 1935. In this attitude, however, the Philippine duck was crossed with eyebrow ducks. Philippine ducks returned to the United States between 1948 and 1950. A little later the British Wildfowl Trust also received some of these ducks. The world's first breeding took place in the USA in 1950; the first European breeding succeeded in 1952. From 1956 there was a breeding line in the GDR, but in the 1970s it was no longer possible to breed with it due to inbreeding depression . In the 1990s there were again some animals that were used for breeding in Europe.
supporting documents
Individual evidence
- ↑ Kolbe, p. 218.
- ^ Kear, p. 532.
- ↑ Kear, p. 531.
- ↑ Kolbe, p. 218.
- ↑ Kear, p. 531.
- ^ Kear, p. 532.
- ↑ Kolbe, p. 218.
- ^ Kear, p. 533.
- ^ Kear, p. 533.
- ↑ Kolbe, p. 218.
- ^ Kear, p. 533.
- ↑ Kolbe, p. 218.
- ↑ Kolbe, p. 219.
literature
- Janet Kear (Ed.): Ducks, Geese and Swans. Oxford University Press, 2005, ISBN 0-19-854645-9 .
- Hartmut Kolbe: The world's ducks. Ulmer Verlag, 1999, ISBN 3-8001-7442-1 .
Web links
- Birdlife Factsheet, accessed February 9, 2009
- Anas luzonica inthe IUCN 2013 Red List of Threatened Species . Listed by: BirdLife International, 2012. Retrieved February 6, 2014.