Appearance:

Medium sized dabbling duck. Noticeably big and wide bill, giving the whole bird a front-heavy look. Male with dark green head, rusty brown flanks and belly. Vent and lower back black, flight feathers dark. Female brown with dark speckles, but with similar huge bill. Speculum green, lacking white rear edge. In flight the darker belly separates it from female mallards. Conspicuous forewing in flight; grey in females and light blue in males.

Sound:

Male is characteristic and most often heard: A hoarse nasal knocking sound "took took", often staccato or disyllabic. Female similar to Mallard but flatter and more creaking.

Display-call male:

Distribution:

Wikipedia: map (se also Xeno-canto below)

Ecology:

Birdlife ecology

Links:

Observation.org Latest observations

Video IBC

Image search Flickr NB! May give other species

Sound search at Xeno-canto

Featherbase

CC

CC-sound:Peter Boesman, Licence,Link.

Appearance:

Very large, mostly unmistakable bird. Grey upperparts, white underparts and yellow/yellowish bill. Keeps neck retracted when flying (as opposed to crane). May be mistaken for Purple Heron, but back of neck grey, not brown. Bill heavy and dagger-shaped. Neck thicker and less angular than in Purple Heron. Unmarked cheeks.

Sound:

Quite vocal. Most common call a short, far reaching and extremely harsh, rasping sound. At breeding ground a varied repertoire of harsh and clattering sounds.

Flight call:

Distribution:

Wikipedia: map (se also Xeno-canto below)

Ecology:

Birdlife ecology

Links:

Observation.org Latest observations

Video IBC

Image search Flickr NB! May give other species

Sound search at Xeno-canto

Featherbase

CC