One of those birds you notice immediately, even on a gray, windy shore. Adults wear a bold, blocky pattern of colors: a glossy dark green head, bright white body, deep chestnut band across the chest, and black patches on the back and wings. Add in the pinkish-red legs, and you get a bird that looks like it’s walking around in a custom-designed sports jacket. The male is especially easy to pick out thanks to a red bill with a small bump, or “knob,” at the base, which swells during the breeding season. Females are similar but slightly duller and usually lack the big, obvious knob, so they look a bit more refined and less over-the-top.
Common shelducks are birds of coastal shallows and mudflats. You’ll most often see them along estuaries, salt marshes, and sandy or muddy bays in Europe and parts of Asia, where tides regularly expose wide areas of wet ground. As the water falls, shelducks stride out over the fresh mud, heads down and bills working, searching for tiny snails, worms, and other invertebrates. They often specialize in small shellfish buried just below the surface, which they find by probing and sweeping their bills from side to side.
On rising tides, they simply paddle back as the water returns, resting on sandbanks or swimming in loose groups. From a distance, their white bodies and bold dark patches stand out clearly against the muted colors of mud and sea, turning a drab estuary into something much more lively.
One of the most unusual things about the Common Shelduck is how and where it nests. Instead of hiding a nest in reeds or grass like many ducks, it often chooses tunnels and burrows. Pairs frequently use abandoned rabbit burrows, old fox dens, holes in banks, or cavities under buildings and tree roots. Some nests can be several meters underground, connected to the outside world only by a narrow tunnel.
Distribution
Afghanistan
Albania
Algeria
Armenia
Austria
Azerbaijan
Bahrain
Bangladesh
Belarus
Belgium
Bhutan
Bosnia And Herz.
Bulgaria
China
Croatia
Cyprus
Czechia
Denmark
Egypt
Estonia
Ethiopia
Finland
France
Georgia
Germany
Ghana
Gibraltar
Greece
Guinea-Bissau
Hong Kong
Hungary
Iceland
India
Iran
Iraq
Ireland
Israel
Italy
Japan
Jordan
Kazakhstan
Korea
Kuwait
Kyrgyzstan
Laos
Latvia
Lebanon
Libya
Liechtenstein
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Malta
Mauritania
Moldova
Mongolia
Montenegro
Morocco
Myanmar
Nepal
Netherlands
North Korea
North Macedonia
Norway
Oman
Pakistan
Philippines
Poland
Portugal
Qatar
Romania
Russia
Saudi Arabia
Senegal
Serbia
Slovakia
Slovenia
Spain
Sudan
Sweden
Switzerland
Syria
Taiwan
Tajikistan
Tajikistan
Thailand
Tunisia
Turkmenistan
Turkey
UAE
Ukraine
United Kingdom
Uzbekistan
Vietnam
YemenAnything we've missed?
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Terrestrial / Aquatic
Altricial / Precocial
Polygamous / Monogamous
Dimorphic (size) / Monomorphic
Active: Diurnal / Nocturnal
Social behavior: Solitary / Pack / Flock
Diet: Carnivore / Herbivore / Omnivore / Piscivorous / Insectivore
Migratory: Yes / No
Domesticated: Yes / No
Dangerous: Yes / No
