Salvadori's teal

Salvadori's teal (Salvadorina waigiuensis) or Salvadori's duck, is a species of bird endemic to New Guinea. It is placed in the monotypic genus Salvadorina.<ref name="ITIS"/>

It has a dark-brown head and neck, and its body is barred and spotted dark-brown and off white, with orange legs and a yellow bill.

It is a secretive inhabitant of fast-flowing highland streams and lakes. It is an omnivore. It locates its nest near water, and lays two to four eggs in the dry season. The IUCN has listed the bird as least concern, and the total population may be slowly declining.

Taxonomy

When Walter Rothschild and Ernst Hartert first described Salvadori's teal in 1894, they placed it in the concurrently created monotypic genus Salvadorina.<ref name="ITIS"/> It has no subspecies.<ref name="Wow"/> Initially, it was generally placed with South America's torrent duck and New Zealand's blue duck—two species of similar ecological niches—in a tribe called Merganettini.<ref name="Kear"/> In the 1940s, Ernst Mayr moved the species to the dabbling duck genus Anas, based on several anatomical features.<ref name="Delacour"/>

The duck's common and genus names both commemorate 18th-century Italian ornithologist Tommaso Salvadori.<ref name="Jobling346"/> The species name waigiuensis refers to Waigeo (also known as Waigiu), an island near New Guinea.<ref name="Jobling406"/>

Description

Measuring Template:Cvt in length, with a wingspan of Template:Cvt,<ref name="Wow"/> and a mass of Template:Cvt,<ref name="CRC"/> Salvadori's teal is a small duck.<ref name="Wow"/> The sexes are similar in plumage, with males averaging slightly larger than females.<ref name="Kear"/>

Range and habitat

Salvadori's teal is endemic to New Guinea; although the type specimen was reportedly collected on the Indonesian island of Waigeo, there is some doubt over the veracity of that claim, as the species is not now found there.<ref name="Kear"/> Resident at elevations ranging from Template:Cvt, Salvadori's teal prefers swiftly flowing rivers and streams,<ref name="Wow"/> though it is also occasionally found in stagnant lakes.<ref name="Strange"/>

Behavior

Food and feeding

Salvadori's teal is an omnivore, and feeds by both dabbling and diving.<ref name="Birdlife"/> It eats plants and insects,<ref name="Chambers"/> and possibly small fish.<ref name="Strange"/>

Breeding

It locates its nest near water, and lays two to four eggs in the dry season.

Conservation and threats

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has listed Salvadori's teal as least concern. The total world population, currently estimated to be between 2,500 and 9,999 mature individuals, is thought to be declining at a moderate rate. Hunting, habitat degradation and predation by dogs are among the threats this species faces,<ref name="Birdlife"/> and competition with introduced sport fish may also cause problems.<ref name="Kear2"/>

References

• Beehler, Bruce M., Pratt, Thane K. & Zimmerman, Dale A. (1986): Birds of New Guinea. Princeton University Press, New Jersey. Template:ISBN
• Template:Cite book
• Sraml, M.; Christidis, L.; Easteal, S.; Horn, P. & Collet, C. (1996): Molecular Relationships Within Australasian Waterfowl (Anseriformes). Australian Journal of Zoology 44(1): 47–58. {{#invoke:CS1 identifiers|main|_template=doi}} (HTML abstract)