Appearance:

Small dabbling duck. Males unmistakable with broad white supercilium and high contrast between the dark mottled breast and the lighter flanks (visible at considerable distance). Female mottled in light brown colours with typical supercilium and contrasting eye-stripe. White spot at base of bill. Throat much lighter than in Teal. Both sexes with dark and fairly long bill. Head gives a square impression due to the flat crown. Speculum in flight shows narrow white edges, lacking Teal's broad front edge. Agile flight, but lacks the twists of Teals.

Sound:

Male display sound a characteristic dry rattling, like the sound of running fingernails along the teeth of a comb. A bit similar to Ptarmigan. Also heard at other times than when courting. Female: like female Teal, but typically a bit deeper and shorter calls.

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

Appearance:

Very large and heavy bird with heavy bill and rounded tail with straight outer tail-feathers. Both sexes lack wing-bars. Males much bigger than females. Plumage mostly black with brown wings and yellowish bill. Females mottled brown with brick-red breast, throat and chin. Lower back greyish, contrasting with rufous, heavily barred, tail.

Sound:

Display-sounds from male unmistakable. Four phased song: First a slow introductory, double-tapping phase which suddenly bursts into an accelerating crescendo followed by a distinct pop. Then closing with grinding and hissing sounds. Female calls with a deep nasal "kok kok".

Song/display:

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:Hannu Jännes, Licence,Link.