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Information about Garganey

Garganey

Conservation status
Scientific classification
Kingdom:Animalia
Phylum:Chordata
Class:Aves
Order:Anseriformes
Family:Anatidae
Genus:Anas
Species:A. querquedula
Binomial name
Anas querquedula
Linnaeus, 1758
The Garganey, Anas querquedula is a small dabbling duck. It breeds in much of Europe and western Asia, but is strictly migratory, with the entire population moving to Africa in winter, where large flocks can occur. Like other small ducks such as the Common Teal, this species rises easily from the water with a fast twisting wader-like flight.

Their breeding habitat is grassland adjacent to shallow marshes and steppe lakes.

The adult male is unmistakable, with its brown head and breast with a broad white crescent over the eye. The rest of the plumage is grey, with loose grey scapular feathers It has a grey bill and legs. In flight it shows a pale blue speculum.

Some care is needed in separating the brown female from the similar Common Teal, but the stronger face markings and more frequent head-shaking when dabbling are good indicators. Confusion with the female of the Blue-winged Teal is also possible, but the head and bill shape is different, and the latter species has yellow legs.

These birds feed mainly by skimming rather than upending.

The male has a distinctive crackling mating call; the female is rather silent for a female duck, but can manage a feeble "quack".

Garganey are rare breeding birds in the British Isles, with most breeding in quiet marshes in Norfolk and Suffolk.

The Garganey is one of the species to which the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA) applies.

Etymology

The common English name dates from the 17th century and comes from dialect Italian gargenei, a variant of garganello, which ultimately comes from the Late Latin gargala "tracheal artery".[1] The English usage owes its origins to Conrad Gesner who used the Italian name in the third volume of his Historiae Animalium (History of Animals) 1555.[2]

Trivia

  • Its name in French is sarcelle d’été, but in the Camargue is said cacharel, and this name inspired in 1962 Jean Bousquet from Nîmes to name his trademark Cacharel.

References

1. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary: [1] Accessed 1/6/07
2. ^ Oxford English Dictionary, online edition. Accessed 1/6/07

External links

conservation status of a species is an indicator of the likelihood of that species continuing to survive either in the present day or the future. Many factors are taken into account when assessing the conservation status of a species: not simply the number remaining, but the
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Least Concern (LC) is an IUCN category assigned to extant species or lower taxa which have been evaluated but do not qualify for any other category. As such they do not qualify as threatened, nor Near Threatened, nor (prior to 2001) Conservation Dependent.
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Scientific classification or biological classification is a method by which biologists group and categorize species of organisms. Scientific classification also can be called scientific taxonomy, but should be distinguished from folk taxonomy, which lacks scientific basis.
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Chordata
Bateson, 1885

Typical Classes

See below

Chordates (phylum Chordata) are a group of animals that includes the vertebrates, together with several closely related invertebrates.
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Aves
Linnaeus, 1758

Orders

About two dozen - see section below

Birds (class Aves) are bipedal, warm-blooded, egg-laying vertebrate animals.
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Anseriformes
Wagler, 1831

Families
  • Anhimidae
  • Anseranatidae
  • Anatidae
  • †Dromornithidae
  • †Presbyornithidae
  • †Gastornidae(?)


The order Anseriformes
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Waterbird redirects here. See also shorebirds and seabirds.

Ducks, geese and swans

Black-bellied Whistling Duck (Dendrocygna autumnalis)


Scientific classification
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Anas
Linnaeus, 1758

Species

Some 40-50; see text.

Anas is a genus of dabbling ducks. It includes mallards, wigeons, teals, pintails and shovelers in a number of subgenera.
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binomial nomenclature is the formal system of naming species. The system is also called binominal nomenclature (particularly in zoological circles), binary nomenclature (particularly in botanical circles), or the binomial classification system.
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Carolus Linnaeus (Carl von Linné)

Carl von Linné, Alexander Roslin, 1775. Currently owned by and hanging at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.
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Anatinae
Leach, 1820

Genera

see text

The Anatinae is a subfamily of the family Anatidae (swans, geese and ducks). It is made up of the dabbling ducks and the moa-nalos, a young and very distinct evolutionary lineage derived from them.
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Europe is one of the seven traditional continents of the Earth. Physically and geologically, Europe is the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, west of Asia. Europe is bounded to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the west by the Atlantic Ocean, to the south by the Mediterranean Sea,
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Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent. It covers 8.6% of the Earth's total surface area (or 29.4% of its land area) and, with almost 4 billion people, it contains more than 60% of the world's current human population.
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Bird migration refers to the regular seasonal journeys undertaken by many species of birds. Migrations include movements of varied distances made in response to changes in food availability, habitat or weather.
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Africa is the world's second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. At about 30,221,532 km² (11,668,545 sq mi) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area, and 20.4% of the total land area.
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A. crecca

Binomial name
Anas crecca
Linnaeus, 1758

Global distribution of the Common Teal in Europe and Asia and the Green-winged Teal in North America

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Charadrii

Families
  • Ibidorhynchidae
  • Recurvirostridae
  • Haematopodidae
  • Charadriidae
Waders, called shorebirds in North America (where "wader" is used to refer to long-legged wading birds such as storks and herons), are members
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marsh, or morass, is a type of wetland which is subject to frequent or continuous inundation.[1] Typically a marsh features grasses, rushes, reeds, typhas, sedges, and other herbaceous plants (possibly with low-growing woody plants) in a context of shallow water.
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Meanings of speculum include:
  • Speculum (medical), a medical tool used for examining body cavities.
  • A small metal mirror used for telescopes.
  • A hand-held bronze mirror used by Etruscan women.

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A. crecca

Binomial name
Anas crecca
Linnaeus, 1758

Global distribution of the Common Teal in Europe and Asia and the Green-winged Teal in North America

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A. discors

Binomial name
Anas discors
Linnaeus, 1766

The Blue-winged Teal (Anas discors) is a small dabbling duck.
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British Isles<nowiki />

The British Isles in relation to mainland Europe

Geography <nowiki/>
Location Western Europe <nowiki /> <nowiki />
Total islands 6,000+<nowiki />

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Norfolk (pronounced IPA: /ˈnɔːfək/) is a low-lying county in East Anglia in the east of southern England.
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    Suffolk (pronounced /'sʌfək/) is a historic and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia, England. It has borders with Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south.
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    The AEWA - The Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds - is an independent international treaty developed under the auspices of the UNEP/Convention on Migratory Species.
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    Italian}}} 
    Official status
    Official language of:  European Union
     European Union
     Switzerland
     San Marino
    Vatican City
    Sovereign Military Order of Malta

    The template is . Please use instead.

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    Vulgar Latin (in Latin, sermo vulgaris, "common speech") is a blanket term covering the vernacular dialects and sociolects of the Latin language until those dialects, diverging still further, evolved into the early Romance languages — a distinction usually made
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    Gesner or Gessner is the surname of several people, including:
    • Conrad Gesner (1516-1565), Swiss naturalist
    • Johann Matthias Gesner (1691-1761), German classical scholar
    • Abraham Pineo Gesner (1797-1864), Canadian physician and geologist

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    The Camargue (Occitan: Camarga in classical norm or Camargo in Mistralian norm) is located south of Arles, France, between the Mediterranean Sea and the two arms of the River Rhône delta at the approximate coordinates
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    This article is copied from an article on Wikipedia.org - the free encyclopedia created and edited by online user community. The text was not checked or edited by anyone on our staff. Although the vast majority of the wikipedia encyclopedia articles provide accurate and timely information please do not assume the accuracy of any particular article. This article is distributed under the terms of GNU Free Documentation License.
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