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Information about Merganetta

Torrent Duck
Conservation status
Scientific classification
Kingdom:Animalia
Phylum:Chordata
Class:Aves
Order:Anseriformes
Family:Anatidae
Subfamily:Tadorninae
Genus:Merganetta
Gould, 1842
Species:M. armata
Binomial name
Merganetta armata
Gould, 1842
Subspecies
  • M. a. colombiana
    Colombian Torrent Duck
  • M. a. leucogenis
    Peruvian Torrent Duck
  • M. a. armata
    Chilean Torrent Duck


The Torrent Duck (Merganetta armata) is a member of the duck, goose and swan family Anatidae. It is the only member of the genus Merganetta. Nowadays, it is placed in the shelduck subfamily Tadorninae after the "perching duck" assemblage where it was formerly assigned to was dissolved because it turned out to be paraphyletic. Its closest relative may be the Blue Duck of New Zealand.

This 43-46 cm long species is a resident breeder in the Andes of South America, nesting in small waterside caves and other sheltered spots. Like the Blue Duck, it holds territories on fast flowing mountain rivers, usually above 1500 m. It is a powerful swimmer and diver even in white water, but is reluctant to fly more than short distances. It is not particularly wary when located.

Male Torrent Ducks have a striking black and white head and neck pattern and a red bill. In flight they show dark wings with a green speculum. Females of all subspecies are somewhat smaller than the drakes; they have orange underparts and throat, with the head and upperparts grey and a yellower bill. Juveniles are pale grey above and whitish below.

The male's call is a shrill whistle, and the female's is throatier whistle.

The subspecies taxonomy is quite confusing. Males of the southern nominate subspecies, the Chilean Torrent Duck, have a grey back and blackish underparts with a chestnut belly. Males of the slightly smaller northern subspecies, the Colombian Torrent Duck, M. a. colombiana, are paler underneath, with steaked grey-brown underparts. Males of the third subspecies, the Peruvian Torrent Duck, M. a. leucogenis, are intermediate but very variable in plumage; some have entirely black underparts (turneri morph). Only males of the Chilean Torrent Duck have a black 'teardrop' mark beneath the eye. The Peruvian Torrent Duck is sometimes split into not less than 4 subspecies (leucogenis, turneri, garleppi and berlepschi), but these are more likely simply color variations, as they are not limited to distinct areas.

This is a declining species now due to competition for its invertebrate food from introduced trout, pollution, forest destruction, and damming of mountain rivers for hydroelectric schemes. The Chilean population seems to be relatively stable.

References

  • Madge, Steve & Burn, Hilary (1987): Wildfowl : an identification guide to the ducks, geese and swans of the world. Christopher Helm, London. ISBN 0-7470-2201-1
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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Tadorninae

Genera

see article text

The Tadorninae is the shelduck-sheldgoose subfamily of the Anatidae, the biological family that includes the ducks and most duck-like waterfowl such as the geese and swans.
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John Gould (14 September 1804 – 3 February 1881) was an English ornithologist. The Gould League in Australia was named after him. His identification of Charles Darwin's finches was pivotal in the development of the theory of The Origin of Species.
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18th century - 19th century - 20th century
1810s  1820s  1830s  - 1840s -  1850s  1860s  1870s
1839 1840 1841 - 1842 - 1843 1844 1845

:
Subjects:     Archaeology - Architecture -
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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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The introduction of this article is too short.
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Duck is the common name for a number of species in the Anatidae family of birds. The ducks are divided between several subfamilies listed in full in the Anatidae article. Ducks are mostly aquatic birds, mostly smaller than their relatives the swans and geese, and may be found in
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Goose (plural geese, male gander(s)) is the English name for a considerable number of birds, belonging to the family Anatidae. This family also includes swans, most of which are larger than geese, and ducks, which are smaller.
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Cygnus
Bechstein, 1803

Species

6-7 living, see text.
Synonyms

Cygnanser Kretzoi, 1957

Swans are large water birds of the family Anatidae, which also includes geese and ducks.
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family (Latin: familia, plural familiae) is a rank, or a taxon in that rank. Exact details of formal nomenclature depend on the Nomenclature Code which applies.
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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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genus (plural: genera) is part of the Latinized name for an organism. It is a name which reflects the classification of the organism by grouping it with other closely similar organisms.
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family (Latin: familia, plural familiae) is a rank, or a taxon in that rank. Exact details of formal nomenclature depend on the Nomenclature Code which applies.
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Tadorninae

Genera

see article text

The Tadorninae is the shelduck-sheldgoose subfamily of the Anatidae, the biological family that includes the ducks and most duck-like waterfowl such as the geese and swans.
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The perching ducks ("Cairininae" or "Cairinini") were previously treated as a small group of ducks in the duck, goose and swan family Anatidae, grouped together on the basis of their readiness to perch high in trees.
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In phylogenetics, a group of organisms is said to be paraphyletic (Greek para = near and phyle = race) if the group contains its most recent common ancestor, but does not contain all the descendants of that ancestor.
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Anthem
"God Defend New Zealand"
"God Save the Queen" 1


Capital Wellington

Largest city Auckland
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species is one of the basic units of biological classification. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring.
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Andes (Quechua: Anti(s/kuna))

The Andes between Chile and Argentina


Countries |
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South America is a continent of the Americas, situated entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east by the Atlantic Ocean; North America and the Caribbean Sea lie
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speculum is a patch, often distinctly coloured, on the inner remiges of some birds.

Examples of the colour(s) of the speculum in a number of ducks are:
  • Common Teal: Iridescent green.
  • Green-winged Teal: Iridescent green.
  • Blue-winged Teal: Iridescent blue.

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To comply with Wikipedia's lead section guidelines, it should be expanded.
Please discuss this issue on the talk page and read the lead section guide to make sure the introduction summarizes the article.
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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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