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 LC    African Comb Duck* Id (Atlas):
    Sarkidiornis melanotos

Description (10)
Image of African Comb Duck
 

Other Names (World)
African Comb Duck, Comb Duck, Knob billed Duck, Knob billed Goose, Black backed Goose, South American Comb Duck, Knob-billed Duck

Family
Anatidae (Ducks, Geese, Swans)

Size
56 - 76 cm

First Described (Guide)
(Pennant, 1769)

Habitat
Grassy ponds or lakes in savanna, open woodlands along large rivers and lakes, swamps, marshes, floodplains, river deltas, flooded forest, pastures, rice-paddies. Occasionally sandbars and mudflats.

Range (Guide)
Angola, Argentina, Aruba, Bangladesh, Benin, Bolivia, Botswana, Brazil (B), Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, China (mainland), Colombia, Congo [The Democratic Republic of the], Congo [The Democratic Republic of the], Côte dIvoire, Ecuador, Eritrea, Ethiopia, French Guiana, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-bissau, Guyana, India, Kenya, Laos, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mexico (B), Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nepal, Netherlands Antilles, Niger, Nigeria, Pakistan (E), Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, Sri Lanka (E), Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania [United Republic of], Thailand, Togo, Uganda, Uruguay (B), Venezuela, Vietnam, Zambia (B), Zimbabwe.

Vagrant to Japan, Oman, Sâo Tomé e Principe, Trinidad and Tobago.

Rarity Status
Currently this species is not classified as a rarity in this country OR information has not been updated.

Population
Estimated population is 200,000 - 730,000 (2010).

Status LC
Habitat destruction, hunting and poisoning are the main threats.

For more information see BirdLife International Species Factsheet.

Food
Vegetable matter, including seeds of grasses and sedges, the soft parts of aquatic plants, agricultural grains, aquatic insect larvae and locusts.

Voice
Xeno-Canto Sound Files (more (3)...)

 
Knob-billed Duck (Sarkidiornis melanotos) [XC791481]
     by id from Kamfinsa Area, Copperbelt Province, Zambia (flight call)

 
Knob-billed Duck (Sarkidiornis melanotos) [XC150138]
     by Dries Van de Loock from saldi pond amreli, India (call)

Nest
A rough structures composed of twigs and coarse grass, in large hollow tree cavities, between 7 and 12 m above the ground, or in holes in the walls of isolated buildings. It may also use abandoned nests of other bird species, such as Hamerkop (Scopus umbretta), or nest on the ground in the shelter of tall grass or on tree stumps. When tree nesting, the same cavity may be used from year to year. In singles, pairs or small groups.

Subspecies
Subspecies sylvicola is sometimes considered full species.

The following 2 subspecies are recognised:

  • melanotos (Pennant, 1769)   -  Africa south of Sahara and Madagascar, tropical Asia from Pakistan through Indian Subcontinent to extreme southern China.
  • sylvicola Ihering and Ihering, 1907   -  Tropical South America from Colombia to northern Argentina. Considered by some authors to be a distinct species, American Comb Duck (Sarkidiornis sylvicola).



References
See References.


Files:
JPG files for African Comb Duck (Sarkidiornis melanotos) - 10 files


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BirdLife International

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