[order] ANSERIFORMES | [family] Anatidae | [latin] Amazonetta brasiliensis | [authority] Gmelin, 1789 | [UK] Brazilian Teal | [FR] Canard amazonette | [DE] Amazonasente | [ES] Pato cutiri (Arg, Bo), Pato Brasileno | [NL] Amazonetaling
Subspecies
Monotypic species
Genus
The Brazilian Teal or Brazilian Duck (Amazonetta brasiliensis) is the only duck in the genus Amazonetta. It was formerly considered a “perching duck”, but more recent analyses indicate that it belongs to a clade of South American dabbling ducks which also includes the Crested Duck, the Bronze-winged Duck, and possibly the steamer ducks
Physical charateristics
The ducks are light brown in colour. Drakes distinguish themselves from females in having red beaks and legs, and in having a distinctive pale grey area on the side of its head and neck. The colour of these limbs is much duller in females.
Listen to the sound of Brazilian Teal
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Copyright remark: Most sounds derived from xeno-canto
recorded by Leonardo Pimentel
| wingspan min.: | 0 | cm | wingspan max.: | 0 | cm |
| size min.: | 35 | cm | size max.: | 40 | cm |
| incubation min.: | 23 | days | incubation max.: | 27 | days |
| fledging min.: | 0 | days | fledging max.: | 0 | days |
| broods: | 1 | eggs min.: | 6 | ||
| eggs max.: | 8 |
Range
South America : Amazonia, Southeast. The Brazilian Teal occurs from Colombia to Argentina and Uruguay.
Habitat
They are found in pairs or small groups on lakes and pools normally away from the coast and close to dense vegetation.
Reproduction
Brazilian Teal live in pairs or in small groups of up to twenty birds. Both parents look after their hatchlings. Brazilian Teal nests on mounds of plant matter surrounded by water or occasionally in tree hollows or abandoned nests on cliffs or in trees. The clutch size is 6-8 eggs which are incubated for about 25 days.
Feeding habits
They eat seeds, fruits, roots and insect, while ducklings eat only insects.
Video Brazilian Teal
copyright: J. del Hoyo
Conservation
This species has an extremely large range, and hence does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the range size criterion (Extent of Occurrence <20,000 km2 combined with a declining or fluctuating range size, habitat extent/quality, or population size and a small number of locations or severe fragmentation). The population trend appears to be stable, and hence the species does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the population trend criterion (>30% decline over ten years or three generations). The population size is very large, and hence does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the population size criterion (<10,000 mature individuals with a continuing decline estimated to be >10% in ten years or three generations, or with a specified population structure). For these reasons the species is evaluated as Least Concern.
Migration
Most Brazilian Teal are sedentary, but individuals of the southern subspecies ipecutiri have been reported north to Venezuela.
Distribution map
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