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Ruddy Shelduck

Tadorna ferruginea

Published on Project Noah
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46.0944, 7.07053

Field Notes

Description:

A distinctive beautiful duck with an orange-brown body plumage and a paler head; a rare spotting for central Europe.

Habitat:

A pond with thick reeds and dense vegetation, the same pond as the 2 previous spottings.

Notes:

The last shot shows a broader view of the pond. The 2 ducks on the right corner are also unknown to me.

Reference Links:

Ruddy Shelduck

Species ID Suggestions

Ruddy Shelduck

Tadorna ferruginea
LauraMaria
3

Ruddy Shelduck

Tadorna ferruginea

Reference Link
Isabela
2

Comments (20)
DanielePralong
Thank you Mona and Ali! These are indeed beautiful ducks.
KatCuff
Very pretty duck and great series!
DanielePralong
Thank you for your comment Atul; nice that you noticed the lost feather! I visited the same pond 2 days ago and this duck, which is very rare in this area, is still here a year later (there are actually a couple). I'll post new pics shortly!
DanielePralong
Thank you Nicholas4! You can tell your daughter I love the pic of her with the beans!
Atul
very nic pic Daniele ,there is even a feather fallen down while preening
Nicholas4
Excellent shot! My daughter loves it!!
DanielePralong
Thanks for your comment Karen. I plan to visit this pond again soon to check for this duck (spotting was same time of year last year). Ducks are generally easier to approach than other birds to get a good shot.
KarenP
great photo. Thanks for posting. Exciting to see when it's less common. And to get such a good photo, too. Nice.
DanielePralong
The last census for this duck by the central Swiss bird station reports only 15-25 breeding pairs in the country. http://www.vogelwarte.ch/ruddy-shelduck.html
DanielePralong
LauraMaria, Isabela has just made the same ID suggestion so I guess we're pretty safe. I'll research their recent sighting in Switzerland. Thank you again to you both!
LauraMaria
No problem! Yes, I was hesitant to suggest it as Switzerland is pretty far west into Europe for these normally... but I know that we get them sometimes even here in the UK and, well, it just looks exactly like a ruddy shelduck so there's nothing else it can be! You have a very special pond, apparently! :D
DanielePralong
Thank you so much LauraMaria! I will update accordingly. This is a very unusual duck for my neck of the woods as the European population is declining...
LauraMaria
Oh, excellent spot! This is a Ruddy Shelduck :) And what fabulous colours!! I wish something like this came to visit my pond!
SarahWhitt
Ahhhh.....Thanks Daniele....another pretty one to add to my favorites! Wish I had a pond nearby :D

Spotted for Missions

Mission
Birds of the World
Mission
Ducks, swans and geese in Central Europe
Mission
Swiss wildlife

Tags

Photographed
PublishedMay 10, 2011

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