From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Species of bird
The
Cape teal
(
Anas capensis
) also
Cape wigeon
or
Cape widgeon
is a 44?46 cm long
dabbling duck
of open wetlands in sub-Saharan
Africa
.
Taxonomy
[
edit
]
Watercolour made by
Georg Forster
on
James Cook
's
second voyage to the Pacific Ocean
. This painting is the
holotype
for the species.
The Cape teal was
formally described
in 1789 by the German naturalist
Johann Friedrich Gmelin
in his revised and expanded edition of
Carl Linnaeus
's
Systema Naturae
. He placed it with all the ducks, geese and swans in the
genus
Anas
and coined the
binomial name
Anas capensis
.
[2]
Gmelin based his description on the "Cape widgeon" that had been described in 1785 by the English ornithologist
John Latham
in his
A General Synopsis of Birds
.
[3]
[4]
The naturalist
Joseph Banks
had provided Latham with a water-colour drawing of the teal by
Georg Forster
who had accompanied
James Cook
on his
second voyage to the Pacific Ocean
. His picture was drawn in 1773 at the
Cape of Good Hope
. This picture is now the
holotype
for the species and is held by the
Natural History Museum
in London.
[5]
The genus name
Anas
is the Latin word for a duck. The specific epithet
capensis
indicates the Cape of Good Hope.
[6]
The species is
monotypic
: no
subspecies
are recognised.
[7]
Description
[
edit
]
Like many southern ducks, the sexes are similar. It is very pale and mainly grey, with a browner back and pink on the bill (young birds lack the pink). This is a generally quiet species, except during mating displays. The breeding male has a clear whistle, whereas the female has a feeble "quack". The Cape teal cannot be confused with any other
duck
in its range.
This species is essentially
non-migratory
, although it moves opportunistically with the rains. It is a thinly distributed but widespread duck, rarely seen in large groups except the moulting flocks, which may number up to 2000.
The Cape teal feeds on aquatic plants and small creatures (invertebrates, crustaceans and amphibians)
[8]
obtained by dabbling. The nest is on the ground under vegetation and near water.
The Cape teal is one of the species to which the
Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds
(
AEWA
) applies.
Gallery
[
edit
]
-
Lake Nakuru, Kenya
-
Serengeti NP
-
Austin Roberts sanctuary, South Africa
-
Darville, Pietermaritzburg, South Africa
-
Darville, Pietermaritzburg, South Africa
-
Darville, Pietermaritzburg, South Africa
-
Darville, Pietermaritzburg, South Africa
-
Darville, Pietermaritzburg, South Africa
-
Darville, Pietermaritzburg, South Africa
-
Darville, Pietermaritzburg, South Africa
References
[
edit
]
- ^
BirdLife International (2016).
"
Anas capensis
"
.
IUCN Red List of Threatened Species
.
2016
: e.T22680145A92846056.
doi
:
10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22680145A92846056.en
. Retrieved
12 November
2021
.
- ^
Gmelin, Johann Friedrich
(1789).
Systema naturae per regna tria naturae : secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis
(in Latin). Vol. 1, Part 2 (13th ed.). Lipsiae [Leipzig]: Georg. Emanuel. Beer. p. 527.
- ^
Latham, John
(1785).
A General Synopsis of Birds
. Vol. 3, Part 2. London: Printed for Leigh and Sotheby. p. 519, no. 64.
- ^
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. 466.
- ^
Lysaght, Averil (1959).
"Some eighteenth century bird paintings in the library of Sir Joseph Banks (1743-1820)"
.
Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History), Historical Series
.
1
(6): 251-371 [290, No. 75].
doi
:
10.5962/p.92313
.
- ^
Jobling, James A. (2010).
The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names
. London: Christopher Helm. pp.
46
,
89
.
ISBN
978-1-4081-2501-4
.
- ^
Gill, Frank
; Donsker, David;
Rasmussen, Pamela
, eds. (January 2022).
"Screamers, ducks, geese & swans"
.
IOC World Bird List Version 12.1
. International Ornithologists' Union
. Retrieved
4 July
2022
.
- ^
Hockey, P.A.R., Dean, W.R.J., Ryan, P.G. (Eds). 2005. Roberts ? Birds of Southern Africa, VIIth ed. The trustees of the John Voelcker bird book fund, Cape Town.
External links
[
edit
]