Psilos Wildfowl Photography |
Shelduck (Tadorna tadorna) |
The Shelducks at Martinmere are all wild
birds and breed very successfully there. Shelducks make nests down in
old rabbit burrows which means that the females do not need to have
brown camaflague and so look similar to the male. This summer there
has been a very large creche of shelduck chicks reared here by one pair
and I have followed their progress with great interest. |
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Although the two sexes are alike it is still
relatively easy to tell them apart. Both birds have a red bill. On the
male bird (photos above) there is a large knob and an all black face.
On the female there is no knob to be seen and there is often a white
patch on her face around the top of the bill. During the winter months
they can be seen in large numbers in coastal areas and inland at Martinmere. |
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The main difference between the sexes is size. The male is noticeably bigger than the female. The photo below shows this. |
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The female may be the smallest but she
can also be the noisiest. Come spring when the birds start to pair up
the females can be heard barking out their display call. (photo below) |
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Occassionally the odd hybrid turns up.
The bird below was photographed at Martinmere December 2005 and is crossed
with a ruddy shelduck which are also found in small numbers in the wild
in the UK. |
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At first, one day back in early July 2004 I noticed
one Shelduck chick.... |
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