White-cheeked pintail

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White-cheeked pintail
Anas bahamensis bahamensis, Crossing Rocks, South Abaco, Bahamas 94136093.jpg
Anas bahamensis bahamensis, South Abaco, Bahamas
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Anseriformes
Family: Anatidae
Genus: Anas
Species:
A. bahamensis
Binomial name
Anas bahamensis
Subspecies
Anas bahamensis map.svg

Spiza americana male 94 231051626 13e01e8125 o cropped flipped.png

Songs and calls
Listen to White-cheeked Pintail on xeno-canto

The white-cheeked pintail (Anas bahamensis), also known as the Bahama pintail or Bahama duck, is a species of dabbling duck that is patchily distributed throughout South America and the Caribbean. It was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his landmark 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae under its current scientific name.

Contents

Taxonomy

The white-cheeked pintail was formally described in 1758 by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae under the current binomial name Anas bahamensis. [2] [3] Linnaeus based his account on the "Ilathera duck" that had been described and illustrated by the English naturalist Mark Catesby in the first volume of his book The Natural History of Carolina, Florida and the Bahama Islands that was published between 1729 and 1732. [4] [a]

Three subspecies are accepted: [6]

The subspecies differ mainly in size, with A. b. bahamensis being smaller (male weight 474–533 g, female 505–633 g) and A. b. rubrirostris larger (male 710 g, female 670 g). [7] A. b. galapagensis is the smallest subspecies, and also has the dullest plumage. [7]

Description

Like many southern ducks, the sexes are similar, though females are slightly smaller and duller in plumage. [7] It is mainly brown with white cheeks and a red-based grey bill; juveniles have duller bill. The wing has an iridescent green speculum. Like the other pintails, it has a slender, acutely pointed tail, though not so marked as in the northern pintail A. acuta. It cannot be confused with any other duck in its range. [7]

Distribution and habitat

It is found in the Caribbean, South America, and the Galápagos Islands. It often occurs on waters with some salinity, such as brackish lakes, estuaries and mangrove swamps, but also on freshwater pools and lakes. It usually occurs in coastal lowlands, but A. b. rubrirostris occurs as high as 2,550 m in Bolivia. [7]

Behaviour

The white-cheeked pintail feeds on aquatic plants (such as Ruppia ), grass seeds, algae [8] [9] and small creatures (such as insects and small aquatic invertebrates) [8] [9] obtained by dabbling. The nest is on the ground under vegetation and near water. [7]

Aviculture

It is popular in wildfowl collections, and escapees are occasionally seen in a semi-wild condition in Europe. A leucistic (whitish) breed is known in aviculture as the silver Bahama pintail. [10]

Notes

  1. ↑ Ilathera is an old alternative spelling of Eleuthera, part of The Bahamas. [5]

References

  1. ↑ BirdLife International (2016). "Anas bahamensis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2016 e.T22680287A92853819. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22680287A92853819.en . Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  2. ↑ Linnaeus, Carl (1758). Systema Naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis (in Latin). Vol. 1 (10th ed.). Holmiae (Stockholm): Laurentii Salvii. p. 124.
  3. ↑ Mayr, Ernst; Cottrell, G. William, eds. (1979). Check-List of Birds of the World. Vol. 1 (2nd ed.). Cambridge, Massachusetts: Museum of Comparative Zoology. p. 475.
  4. ↑ Catesby, Mark (1729–1732). The Natural History of Carolina, Florida and the Bahama Islands (in English and French). Vol. 1. London: W. Innys and R. Manby. p. 93, Plate 93.
  5. ↑ Catesby, Mark (1729–1732). The Natural History of Carolina, Florida and the Bahama Islands (in English and French). Vol. 1. London: W. Innys and R. Manby. p. xxxviii.
  6. ↑ Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (December 2023). "Screamers, ducks, geese & swans". IOC World Bird List Version 14.1. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 28 June 2024.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Madge, Steve; Burn, Hilary (1992). Wildfowl: An Identification Guide to the Ducks, Geese and Swans of the World (Helm Identification Guides). Christopher Helm. pp. 84, 224–225. ISBN   0-7136-3647-5.
  8. 1 2 "Anas bahamensis (White-cheeked Pintail)" (PDF). Retrieved 2023-10-28.
  9. 1 2 "Anas bahamensis (White-cheeked pintail)". Animal Diversity Web .
  10. ↑ Cowell, Dan. "Bahama Pintail / White-cheeked Pintail". Harteman Wildfowl. Jan Harteman. Archived from the original on 2011-02-21. Retrieved 2012-04-29.
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