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Andaman teal

Anas albogularis

Andamanentaling / Andaman Weisskehlente / Sarcelle des Andaman


The Andaman Teal (Anas albogularis) is a species of small duck found in the Andaman Islands of India (Andaman Islands and Great Coco Island). The species was considered as a subspecies of the Sunda Teal (Anas gibberifrons)


The species is dark brown with buffy markings. The face and throat are pale with a white ring around the eye. The bill is bluish grey and the iris is red.

They are found in inland pools as well as mangroves and lagoons.They feed at night in rice fields. The breeding season is July to October and nests in reed patches. The nest is made of grass and about nine eggs forms the clutch. They were formerly considered to breed in tree hollows but recent studies found no evidence. They feed mainly on molluscs and arthropods. 

 

Andaman Teal used a variety of habitats at different times. Feeding locations in summer were shallow areas with sparse vegetation, whereas during the breeding season (autumn) they foraged among reeds, Phragmites karka and Scirpus sp., with thicker cover nearer to the nest. Teal were found loafing in open water or resting on wooden logs, mounds, small trees, or bushes in water or on the banks and mud banks. Teal were in single species flocks or mixed flocks with the Lesser Whistling duck, Dendrocygna javanica. Detailed analysis comparing feeding and nonfeeding sites showed that insects and small molluscs in the soil were crucial factors in determining feeding locations for teals. 
A population estimate of 500 to 600 was made in a survey conducted in 1995-1998. The Andaman teal is scarce and has recently declined, and is likely to have been affected by the tsunami because of its coastal distribution. This duck is usually treated as a subspecies of Sunda teal, but it has been proposed that it should be treated as a full species (this proposal is currently under review by the BirdLife Taxonomic Working Group).


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