Stiff-tailed duck

Stiff-tailed duck
Temporal range: Early Miocene to present
Male white-headed duck, Oxyura leucocephala
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Anseriformes
Family: Anatidae
Tribe: Oxyurini
Genus: Oxyura
Bonaparte, 1828
Type species
Anas rubidus (ruddy duck)
Wilson, 1814
Species

Oxyura australis
Oxyura jamaicensis
Oxyura leucocephala
Oxyura maccoa
Oxyura vittata
†Oxyura vantetsi

Key:
  Oxyura vittata
  Oxyura ferruginea
  Oxyura maccoa
  Oxyura leucocephala
  Oxyura jamaicensis
  Oxyura australis

The stiff-tailed ducks, the genus Oxyura, are part of the Oxyurini tribe of ducks.

All have, as their name implies, long, stiff tail feathers, which are erected when the bird is resting. All have relatively large, swollen bills. These are freshwater diving ducks. Their legs are set far back, which makes them awkward on land, so they rarely leave the water.

Their uncommon displays involve drumming noises from inflatable throat sacs, head throwing, and erecting short crests. Plumage sequences are complicated, and aging difficult.[citation needed] Plumage is vital for survival because of this animal's tendency to spend time in the water.[citation needed]

Taxonomy

The genus Oxyura was introduced (as a subgenus) in 1828 by the French naturalist Charles Lucien Bonaparte to accommodate a single taxon, Anas rubidus Wilson, 1814. This is now considered to be a synonym of Anas jamaicensis Gmelin 1789, the ruddy duck.[1][2] The genus name is derived from Ancient Greek oxus, meaning "sharp", and oura meaning "tail".[3]

The six extant members of this genus are distributed widely throughout North America, South America, Australia, Asia, and much of Africa.[4]

Species

Genus Oxyura – Bonaparte, 1828 – six species
Common name Scientific name and subspecies Range Size and ecology IUCN status and estimated population
Blue-billed duck


Male
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Female

Oxyura australis
Gould, 1837 		Australia
Map of range 		Size:

Habitat:

Diet: 		 LC 


Ruddy duck


Male
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Female

Oxyura jamaicensis
(Gmelin, 1789) 		North and South America (+ British Isles,[5] France, & Spain (introduced))
Map of range 		Size:

Habitat:

Diet: 		 LC 


Andean duck


Male
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Female

Oxyura ferruginea
(Eyton, 1838) 		Andes Mountains of South America
Map of range 		Size:

Habitat:

Diet: 		 LC 


White-headed duck


Male
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Female

Oxyura leucocephala
(Scopoli, 1769) 		Spain, North Africa, and western and central Asia
Map of range 		Size:

Habitat:

Diet: 		 EN 


Maccoa duck


Male

 Oxyura maccoa
(Eyton, 1838) 		eastern Africa from Sudan and Ethiopia to Tanzania and west to eastern Zaire, and southern Africa from Zimbabwe to Cape Province, South Africa
Map of range 		Size:

Habitat:

Diet: 		 EN 


Lake duck


Male
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Female

Oxyura vittata
(Philippi, 1860) 		central Chile, Argentina and southern Uruguay
Map of range 		Size:

Habitat:

Diet: 		 LC 



A fossil species from the Late Pliocene or Early Pleistocene of Jalisco (Mexico) was described as Oxyura zapatanima. It resembled a small ruddy duck or, even more, an Argentine blue-bill. A larger Middle Pleistocene fossil form from the southwestern United States was described as Oxyura bessomi; it was probably quite close to the ruddy duck.

"Oxyura" doksana from the Early Miocene of Dolnice (Czech Republic) cannot be assigned to any anatine subfamily with certainty.[6]

References

  1. ^ Bonaparte, Charles Lucien (1828). "The genera of North American birds, and a synopsis of the species found within the territory of the United States ; systematically arranged in orders and families (continued)". Annals of the Lyceum of Natural History of New York. 2: 293–432 [390]. doi:10.1111/j.1749-6632.1826.tb00254.x.
  2. ^ Mayr, Ernst; Cottrell, G. William, eds. (1979). Check-List of Birds of the World. Vol. 1 (2nd ed.). Cambridge, Massachusetts: Museum of Comparative Zoology. p. 501.
  3. ^ Jobling, James A. (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. p. 287. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.
  4. ^ Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (January 2022). "Screamers, ducks, geese & swans". IOC World Bird List Version 12.1. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 4 July 2022.
  5. ^ Mullarney, Killian; et al. (2001). Bird Guide. Collins. p. 68. ISBN 0-00-711332-3.
  6. ^ Worthy et al. (2007)

Further reading