Derivation
Tad-orn'-a - N.L., from an Italian word for duck: radjah - native name of the duck was said to be radja
Habitat
In the wet season most shallow waters, fresh, brackish and salt swamps, mangrove-lined coastal creeks, shallow river margins. In the dry season larger permanent lagoons, paperbark swamps, man-made wetlands, mangroves, tidal mudflats and estuaries.
Raja Shelduck (Radjah radjah) [XC439613]
by Marc Anderson from Twelve Mile Lagoon, Lakefield National Park, Queensland, Australia (call, flight call)
Raja Shelduck (Radjah radjah) [XC688685]
by James Lambert from Nightcliff, Darwin Municipality, Northern Territory, Australia (alarm call, flight call)
Nest
In a hole of a tree sometimes lined with down.
Eggs (Guide)
6 - 12; smooth, lustrous cream; rounded-oval; 55 - 61 x 39 - 45 mm. Incubation: 30 days; by female.
Young
Precocial, nidifugous.
Subspecies
The following 2 subspecies are recognised:
radjah (Lesson, 1828) - New Guinea, Moluccas and Lesser Sunda islands.
rufitergum (Hartert, 1905) - Northern Australia from the Kimberleys, WA to Rockhampton, Qld.
The Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Pizzey, G., and Knight, E., 1997, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 19691 5
Field Guide to Australian Birds Morecombe, M., 2000, Steve Parish Publishing Pty Ltd. ISBN 1 876282 10 X
Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Simpson, K., and Day, N., 1999, 6th Edition, Viking ISBN 0 670 87918 5
Reader's Digest Complete Book of Australian Birds 1988, 2nd Edition, Reader's Digest ISBN 0 949819 99 9
What Bird is That? 1984, Revised Edition, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 14846 5
Handbook of Australian, New Zealand & Antarctic Birds 1990 - , Oxford University Press, Melbourne ISBN 0 19 553244 9