Harteman Wildfowl - Falcated duck

Falcated duck

Male. © Jan Harteman

Anas falcata
Dutch: Sikkeleend/ Bronskopeend
German: Sichelente
French: Sarcelle à faucilles

Ringsize: 10mm

Text by Dan Cowell
GBWF.org

The Falcated Teal drake is one of the most attractive of all ducks in the genus Anas. They appear to be related to the Carolina Wood Duck and the Mandarin Duck, but are in fact dabblers. In the wild, this species breeds in central and eastern Siberia, south to northern Japan. They spend the Winter months in southern Japan, China, Burma and Taiwan. Since they are so beautiful, Falcated Teal are often kept in captivity, where they do very well.

Falcated Teal are larger than the American teal, closer in size to the wigeons, who they are more closely related to. The drake's forehead and cheeks are metallic purplish-copper; behind the eye and the rest of the head and crest is glossy green. Directly above the dark bill, there is a small white spot. The Throat and neck are white, with a black band that runs around to the back of the head. The breast is covered with many vermiculated black, gray and buff feathers, giving it a scaley appearance; the sides, lower breast and upper back is finely vermiculated black, gray and white. The feathers of the inner secondaries are black and white, and extend into a long sickle or crescent shpae over the tail. There is a buff patch on each side of the lower rump. Hens are much like other Anas hens, in that she is mostly mottled brown overall, but a slight crest makes her head appear larger than other species.

This species breeds rather well in aviaries, but need lots of cover to nest. The hens will begin to lay her clucth of 6 to 10 eggs in May and incubates them for about 25 days. The hens will make good mothers and can be used to hatch her own eggs. First year birds are fertile.

A very easy species to keep in aviaries, the Falcated Teal is calm species that does very well in mixed collections. They are also Winter hardy, making them desirable for breeders in cold regions.

Falcated Duck: information needed from China
2005 - From the Globally Threatened Bird Forums @ BirdLife.org
The Falcated Duck is currently listed as Least Concern, with a large breeding range in Mongolia, north-east China and south-east Siberia to Hokkaido and the southern Kuril islands. Its total population is estimated to be 35,000 individuals (9,000 in Japan, 2,000 in Korea, and the remainder in China: Wetlands International 2002). S. Chan in litt. 2005 has commented that numbers seem to be declining in southern China. “In the last two years I have tried to collect information on this species in their wintering grounds in China, but so far it seems they are only common in Dongting Hu, Hunan Province. It is not a common bird in many well-known wetland sites (This is reconfirmed by the WWF survey in lower Yangtze in 2004. 18,364 birds were counted but almost all of them were from Dongting Hu, not from other wetland sites in lower Yangtze). From Korean and Japanese sources, the population is stable or slightly declining (these two countries are relatively well covered by censuses).” Further information on this species in China would be welcome. If total population declines approach 30% in the last ten years then the species may warrant uplisting to Near Threatened.