Indian Spot-billed Duck

Latin Name: 
Anas poecilorhyncha
Category: 
Size: 
60cm
Description: 

Sexes alike. Blackish-brown plumage, feathers edged paler; almost white head and neck; black cap; dark, broad eye-stripe; green speculum bordered above with white; black bill tipped yellow; coral-red legs and feet. Pairs or small parties walk on marshy land and wet cultivation, or up-end in shallow water; usually does not associate with other ducks; when injured, can dive and remain underwater, holding on to submerged vegetation with only bill exposed.

Habitat: 
reed- and vegetation-covered jheels, shallow ponds.
Food: 
wild grain, seeds, shoots of aquatic plants; occasionally water insects, worms, water-snails; causes damage to paddy.
Distribution: 
resident; N subcontinent, up to about 1,800m in Kashmir; local migrant in some areas.
Call: 
Call Description: 
loud, duck-like quack.
National Status: