Scientific name: Marmaronetta angustirostris (Menetries, 1832)
Bird group: Ducks
Field characters. 39-42 cm. Slightly larger than Common Teal and with longer neck and bigger head. Pale brown plumage covered with creamy spots; broad dark stripe from eye to nape; nape feathers elongated to shaggy crest; no coloured speculum. Bill blackish with pale transverse line near tip. Legs green-brown. At a distance, appears as a uniform pale grey-brown duck with a dark eye patch. No eclipse plumage. Sexes similar.
Voice. Generally quiet; male has a low, nasal "eeeep"; female lacks loud quacking calls typical of Anas-species.
Distribution. Rare summer visitor.
Habitat. Marismas, and small freshwater pools, floodlands and reservoirs with dense stands of fringing aquatic vegetation.
Food. Feeds mainly by up-ending in shallow water, taking seeds, tubers, and shoots of aquatic plants, and also worms, molluscs, insects and larvae.
Eggs. Unmarked, ground colour pale straw.
Shape subelliptical. Size 46 x 34 mm (42-51 x 32-30), weight 30 g (26-35) for eggs laid in captivity.