The falcated duck or falcated teal (Mareca falcata ) is a gadwall-sized dabbling duck from the east Palearctic (East Siberia and Mongolia to North Japan; wintering to India).
Males and females have similar lengths at 46 to 53 cm (18–21 in). Their weight can range from 422 to 770 g (14.9–27.2 oz), with males weighing more than their female counterparts. Wingspans range from 79 to 91 cm (31–36 in). The breeding male is unmistakable. Most of the body plumage is finely vermiculated grey, with the long sickle-shaped tertials, which give this species its name, hanging off its back. The large head is dark green with a white throat, and a dark green collar and bronzed crown. The vent region is patterned in yellow, black and white.
The female falcated duck is dark brown, with plumage much like a female wigeon. Its long grey bill is an aid to identification. The eclipse male is like the female, but darker on the back and head. In flight both sexes show a pale grey underwing. The blackish speculum is bordered with a white bar on its inner edge. Young birds are buffer than the female and have short tertials.
Juveniles have plumage similar to females of the species.
These ducks are usually quiet except on breeding territory. The male duck has a shrill whistle tyu-tyu-vit…tyu-vit…tyu-tyu-vit (Dementiev and Gladkov 1952) and a quiet whistle ending with a wavering uit-trr (Flint et al. 1984). The female duck has a hoarse, quack, short two-syllable inciting call, and a high pitched, two to four syllable Decrescendo call (Lorenz and Von de Wall 1960).
The falcated duck breeds in eastern Asia. It nests in eastern Russia, in Khabarovsk, Primorskiy, Amur, Chita, Buryatia, Irkutsk, Tuva, eastern Krasnoyarsk, south central Sakha Sakhalin, extreme northeastern North Korea and northern China, in northeastern Inner Mongolia, and northern Heilongjiang, and in northern Japan, Hokkaidō, Aomori, and the Kuril Islands. It is widely recorded well outside its normal range, but the popularity of this beautiful duck in captivity clouds the origins of these extralimital birds.
This dabbling duck is strongly migratory and winters in much of Southeast Asia. In India: Uttar Pradesh, Bihār, Assam, eastern Haryāna. Also in northern Bangladesh, northern and central Myanmar, northern Laos to the Mekong River, northern Vietnam (from about Hanoi north), and China: Hainan, Taiwan, Yunnan, Guangxi, Guangdong, Fujian, Jiangxi, northern Hunan, Hubei, Zhejiang, Anhui, Jiangsu, Shandong, southern Hebei, Shanxi, northern Shaanxi. It is gregarious outside the breeding season and will then form large flocks.
It is estimated that there are about 89,000 falcated ducks in total; this is much higher than the previous population estimate of 35,000 worldwide.
During a survey done in Central China, a migratory area in the winter for the falcated duck, the numbers of animals sighted was minimal. In 2004 only 4 were recorded, and in 2005 only 10.
This is a species of lowland wetlands, such as water meadows or lakes, and usually feeds by dabbling for plant food or grazing.
The National Nature Reserves supported high proportions of eastern China's populations of globally threatened Anatidae species (IUCN, 2009): 30% of the near threatened falcated duck (Anas falcata ) populations. There is about twenty-seven percent of falcated duck species existing in the National Nature Reserves.
The falcated duck has a large range, with an estimated global extent of occurrence of 1,000,000–10,000,000 km2 (390,000–3,860,000 sq mi).
The breeding range of the falcated duck is from eastern Siberia and Mongolia to northeastern China and northern Japan with wintering grounds in the northern part of southeast Asia to northeastern India. There have also been a small number of sightings of falcated ducks in western North America and Poland. However, these sightings have been attributed to vagrants and ducks that have escaped from captivity.
The clutch is 6–10 eggs. Eggs are generally laid in late May. They have their nests on the ground in thick grasses, tussocks, swamped shrubbery, or hidden in deadwood. Usually the eggs are nested near water but have also been seen in small bushes approximately 80 m (260 ft) from the water. The eggs have a color of white with a pinkish yellow tint. Females incubate the eggs alone, 24–25 days in captivity. The males will leave the female during incubation.
Falcated ducks have a very intricate courtship ritual. Females perform a series of inciting calls and other movements while preening behind the wings of their targeted male. Males use a courting method similar to others in the Anas genus, including an introductory shake, a neck-stretching burp call, a grunt whistle, and a head-up-tail-up display. During the mating season the falcated ducks form monogamous pairs that last throughout the mating season.It is not known how long the falcated duck lifespan is. There is also not much information on their territory size because these ducks are not studied as closely as other more popular species like swans or geese.
A primary threat to the falcated duck is hunting, as people want them for food and their feathers. Their habitat loss is also caused by the drainage of the wetlands. Although the overall population of the falcated duck is larger than once believed and is no longer classified as an endangered species, it is still considered "near threatened" on the IUCN's (or the International Union for the Conservation of Nature's) Animal Red List.
The falcated duck is currently in a state of near threatened on the IUCN's Red List. They are protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, and their overall population seems to be (for the most part) stable and growing. Falcated duck populations are present in a number of wildlife preservers, national parks and other protected areas, and zoos.
