Falcated Teal

Common Name	Falcated TealBirdlife International
Species name	Anas falcataBirdlife International
Family	Anatidae
Genus	Anas
Local Name	Country Appearance Local name Brunei Darussalam     Cambodia     China     Indonesia     Japan Yes ヨシガモ Lao PDR     Malaysia     Mongolia     Myanmar     Philippines     Republic of Korea     Singapore     Thailand     Vietnam

 

Visual and Sound Image

Photos

Falcated Duck

Videos

 

Sounds

 

Identification

48-54 cm. Relatively bulky dabbling duck. Breeding male unmistakeable, with grey body, large, maned head with green and bronze iridescence, white throat, buff and black undertail-coverts, and elongated, arched tertials. Female and eclipse plumage male fairly uniform dark brown, with paler buff belly.
<Similar species> Female and eclipse male best separated from other Anas species by combination of buff belly, greyish legs, and distinctive shape: relatively short, heavy, but bouyant body with rather long dark grey bill.
<Voice> On breeding grounds, male has a short, low whistle, followed by a wavering uit-trr. Female has a hoarse quack.

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Range Description

This species has a large range, with an estimated global extent of occurrence of 1,000,000-10,000,000 km2. It breeds over much of south-east Siberia, Russia, south to northern Mongolia, China, and Japan. Although the global population was previously estimated to be 35,000 individuals, recent counts indicate that it is considerably higher, with perhaps as many as 89,000 in total9. The majority of birds spending the non-breeding season in China, (78,000), Japan (9,000), North Korea and South Korea (2,000)7,9. It also regularly winters in small numbers in Bangladesh, north-east India, Nepal (rare and irregular1), Taiwan, and northern Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam (very rare visitor6), with vagrants recorded from Afghanistan, Bulgaria, Canada, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Malta, the Netherlands, Pakistan, Poland, Portugal, Turkey, and the Aleutian Islands of the United States5. Escapes from waterfowl collections mask the extent of vagrancy to western Europe. The species appears to be declining in southern China, remaining common only in Dongting Hu, Hunan Province3 and there have been notable declines at least locally in the breeding range, for instance, on Lake Udyl the total number of Falcated Duck broods has fallen from 530 to 120 broods since the 1980s8. Of 14,763 individuals counted in a 2005 survey of China, 13,605 were in Hunan Province, and 970 in Hubei Province2. Populations in Japan and Korea appear to have remained stable or declined only slightly3. It also appears to have become less frequent in Nepal1.

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Ecology

Ecology (Behaviour)

It is usually seen in pairs or small parties, with large flocks formed outside the breeding season, mixing with other dabbling ducks (particularly Eurasian Wigeon A. penelope and Northern Pintail A. acuta) 5. The breeding season is May to July.

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Habitat

<Breeding> The species breeds by water-meadows and lakes in lowland valleys, both in open and partly wooded areas.
<Non-Breeding> It winters on lowland rivers, lakes, flooded meadows, and, less frequently, coastal lagoons and estuaries5.

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Diet

<Breeding> Birds dabble and up-end for food in open water near emergent vegetation, or sometimes graze in waterside grassland or crops5.

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Breeding Site

See Habitat

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References

1. H.S. Baral in litt. (2005). 2. M. Barter in litt. (2005). 3. S. Chan in litt. (2005). 4. Lu Jianjian (1992). 5. Madge and Burn (1988). 6. A.W. Tordoff in litt. (2005). 7. Wetlands International (2002). 8. Poyarkov (2006). 9. Lei and Barter in litt. (2007).

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Status

International Status

IUCN Red List Category

NT

Justification

Although this species is clearly more abundant than once believed, it has been retained as Near Threatened owing to moderately rapid declines in China, as measured by survey data and inferred from very high levels of hunting.
<Population justification> Although the global population was previously estimated to be 35,000 individuals, recent counts indicate that it is considerably higher, with perhaps as many as 89,000 in total (Lei and Barter in litt. 2007). The majority of birds spend the non-breeding season in China, (78,000), Japan (9,000), North Korea and South Korea (2,000) (Wetlands International 2002; Lei and Barter in litt. 2007).
<Trend justification>
The species appears to be declining in southern China, remaining common only in Dongting Hu, Hunan Province (S. Chan in litt. 2005) and there have been notable declines at least locally in the breeding range, for instance, on Lake Udyl the total number of Falcated Duck broods has fallen from 530 to 120 broods since the 1980s (Poyarkov 2006). Populations in Japan and Korea appear to have remained stable or declined only slightly (S. Chan in litt. 2005).

 

National Status

Country	Category	Reference
Brunei Darussalam
Cambodia
China
Indonesia
Japan
Korea	LC	Korean Red List of Threatened Species(NIBR, 2012)
Lao PDR
Malaysia
Mongolia	NT	Mongolian Red List of Birds(Seidler et al. Eds., 2011)
Myanmar
Philippines
Singapore
Thailand
Vietnam	R	Red Data Book of Vietnam(2000) （Endangered, Vulnerable, Rare, Threatened）

 

Management

Threat

Hunting for food, for subsistence and local markets, is probably the major threat. This is particularly true on the non-breeding grounds in China, with an estimated 33,000-37,000 individuals of this species taken along the lower and middle Yangtze River basins in each of the four winters from 1988-19925.

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Information

No descriptions

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Current Conservation

The species occurs in a number of protected areas.

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Current Conservation

Continue to monitor non-breeding populations. Formulate national and local hunting or shooting regulations5. Educate people about the plight of waterfowl, and provide alternative employment opportunities for local hunters5. Improve management of existing wetland nature reserves on the non-breeding grounds5.

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Legal Protection

Country	Status	Reference
Brunei Darussalam
Cambodia
China
Indonesia
Japan
Korea
Lao PDR
Malaysia
Mongolia
Myanmar
Philippines
Singapore
Thailand
Vietnam

 

Related Links

 

Range

Geographical Information

Migration Route

 

Asian Waterbird Census

Descriptions

The Asian Waterbird Census (AWC) was initiated in 1987 and runs in parallel with other waterbird censuses carried out in Africa, Europe, Central and West Asia and Latin America under the umbrella of the International Waterbird Census (IWC), which is organised by Wetlands International.

The AWC takes place annually, during the second and third weeks of January, and is carried out by volunteers interested in collecting information on waterbirds and wetlands as a basis for contributing to their conservation.

Reference: Li, Z.W.D., Bloem, A., Delany S., Martakis G. and Quintero J. O. 2009. Status of Waterbirds in Asia - Results of the Asian Waterbird Census: 1987-2007. Wetlands International, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Census Data

BRUNEI DARUSSALAM	1986	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007
The number of observed individual
The number of observed sites(not all count sites)
The total number of count sites	2	3	3	2	4	4	0	4	4	4	4	5	5	0	0	0	9	0	0	1	0	9
CAMBODIA	1986	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007
The number of observed individual
The number of observed sites(not all count sites)
The total number of count sites	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	0	0	11	0	0	12	12	11	5	1	6	9	6	6
CHINA	1986	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007
The number of observed individual			31119	1389	1375	1538	935	3879	1685	2470	16590			32			100	4593	18381	14763	1004	24708
The number of observed sites(not all count sites)			9	3	7	15	14	6	2	3	1			2			1	7	12	21	14	25
The total number of count sites	0	1	34	12	50	60	67	29	6	14	6	15	21	20	14	10	22	45	80	81	59	72
INDONESIA	1986	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007
The number of observed individual
The number of observed sites(not all count sites)
The total number of count sites	0	0	0	1	19	8	17	17	15	19	16	0	0	47	12	10	40	34	14	16	15	23
JAPAN	1986	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007
The number of observed individual				2308	4052	1269	1371	1560	2467	1843	1961	1873	2561	973	892	724	607	710	1391	604	131	156
The number of observed sites(not all count sites)				24	18	23	18	12	21	15	20	16	15	14	15	10	11	9	12	9	7	11
The total number of count sites	0	0	0	53	39	52	47	20	50	40	47	37	41	37	107	112	103	109	97	159	142	137
LAO PDR	1986	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007
The number of observed individual
The number of observed sites(not all count sites)
The total number of count sites	0	0	0	2	4	5	3	2	1	0	0	0	0	0	14	1	0	0	0	1	0	0
MALAYSIA	1986	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007
The number of observed individual
The number of observed sites(not all count sites)
The total number of count sites	0	0	0	59	68	93	85	17	10	7	10	0	0	20	25	25	25	43	43	82	82	40
MYANMAR	1986	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007
The number of observed individual						1									6	2		2	7			2
The number of observed sites(not all count sites)						1									1	1		1	2			1
The total number of count sites	0	5	3	12	17	15	21	20	13	12	2	4	2	0	7	32	47	73	24	31	32	19
PHILIPPINES	1986	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007
The number of observed individual
The number of observed sites(not all count sites)
The total number of count sites	0	0	0	0	19	21	34	39	46	47	39	28	29	32	43	38	50	47	56	54	65	108
SINGAPORE	1986	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007
The number of observed individual
The number of observed sites(not all count sites)
The total number of count sites	0	0	0	0	4	12	17	15	13	14	10	10	6	11	10	10	8	9	9	8	8	7
REPUBLIC OF KOREA	1986	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007
The number of observed individual			18	121	1401	151	1940	108	235	6982	2607	505	943	1912	1592	2032	1965	2254	1786	2479	2686	2655
The number of observed sites(not all count sites)			2	3	6	5	8	4	4	3	7	4	5	27	41	43	39	37	40	33	44	35
The total number of count sites	0	0	10	12	22	20	20	15	10	22	25	22	14	68	99	112	118	116	117	123	127	127
THAILAND	1986	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007
The number of observed individual			3	8				2			12									3
The number of observed sites(not all count sites)			1	2				1			1									1
The total number of count sites	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
VIETNAM	1986	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007
The number of observed individual																	9	1
The number of observed sites(not all count sites)																	2	1
The total number of count sites	0	0	0	1	2	0	1	4	0	1	1	0	1	8	2	2	16	4	4	9	6	11

 

Population

Descriptions

 

Population Trend

 

Additional Information

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Climate change species distributions

 

Other Information