Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
Table 7-2.
Species and geographic distribution of
l amingos around the world (based on New World
Encyclopedia 2008).
A
Species
Geography
Greater fl amingo
(
Phoenicopterus
roseus
)
Old World
Parts of Africa,
southern Europe,
southern and
southwestern Asia
Lesser fl amingo
(
Phoenicopterus
minor
)
Eastern Africa to
northwestern India
Caribbean fl amingo
(
Phoenicopterus
ruber
)
New World
Everglades,
Caribbean and
Galápagos islands
B
Chilean fl amingo
(
Phoenicopterus
chilensis
)
Temperate southern
South America
James's fl amingo
(
Phoenicoparrus
jamesi
)
High Andes in Peru,
Chile, Bolivia, and
Argentina
Andean fl amingo
(
Phoenicoparrus
adinus
)
High Andes in Peru,
Chile, Bolivia, and
Argentina
square mile (2.6 km
2
; Niering 1985). Prairie
marsh ducks fall in two general groups based
on their food-collecting behavior
-
dabbling
ducks and diving ducks. Dabblers favor shallow
water in marshes; they tip up their tails and
browse on aquatic vegetation and small animals
that they can reach from the water surface. The
mallard and cinnamon teal are typical examples
of these relatively tame ducks (Fig. 7-25).
Diving ducks prefer the deeper water of
ponds and lakes, in which they dive to the
bottom in search of food. To facilitate under-
water swimming, they have shorter legs set back
farther on their bodies compared with dabblers
(Niering 1985). Canvasback and redhead ducks
represent the diving category (Fig. 7-26). Another
group, known as wood ducks, inhabits forests,
wooded ponds and mountain streams. They
are represented by the wood duck (
Aix sponsa
)
in North America and the Mandarin duck
(
A. galericulata
) in eastern Asia. They build
nests in tree cavities up to 15 m (50 feet) above
the ground (Collins, Collins and Gress 1994).
Both these ducks have spectacular plumage
(Fig. 7-27), and the Mandarin duck has been
Figure 7-25.
Dabbler ducks (see Color Plate 7-25). A.
Mallard (
Anas platyrhynchos
) drake displays its
distinctive color pattern with a green head and white
collar. B. Cinnamon teal (
A. cyanoptera
) has a broad
bill. Both are native to North America. Photos by J.S.
Aber.
widely exported and bred in captivity. In fact,
Mandarin ducks released from captive breeding
have formed a wild-living population in Great
Britain (Harris 2009).
Coots often feed with and are mistaken for
ducks, but coots are not ducks. Coot feet are
not webbed; rather, they have lobes on each toe
that act like tiny paddles. Coots also seem to
have trouble taking off and must run along the
water surface for some distance to become air-
borne. The American coot (
Fulica americana
)
has a completely gray (almost black) body and
a white bill (Fig. 7-28).
Geese and swans are larger cousins of ducks.
Both the lesser snow goose and white-fronted
goose (Fig. 7-29) breed and summer in the
Arctic tundra of Eurasia and North America,
