Pato de Hartlaub

Taxonomía

Nombre científico

Pteronetta hartlaubii

Autoridad

(Cassin, 1860)

Orden

Anseriformes

Familia

Anátidos

Género

Pteronetta

Distribución y hábitat

Hartlaub's duck is resident in equatorial West and Central Africa, from Guinea and Sierra Leone east through Nigeria to South Sudan, and south to Gabon, Congo and Zaire.<p>This bird is named after the German naturalist Gustav Hartlaub.<p>Hartlaub’s ducks reside in swampy marshes, tropical forests, savanna areas, rivers, and streams. In Liberia, they live in mangroves. However, they will only gather in flocks in Liberia from January to May. Year-round, they will live in parts of central western Africa, including the Democratic Republic of Congo and Cameroon.

Migración

Resident species

Comportamiento

In flight, Hartlaub’s ducks will quack “ko-ko-ko-ko” or “kakakakarr.” Their conversational sounds are “whit-whit-whit.” When threatened, the males will quack a fast “wheezy whistle.” When juveniles are in distress, they will give three calls in evenly spaced quick descending notes.<p>Their diet consists of aquatic invertebrates, such as insects and crustaceans. The Republic of Congo’s Nouabalé-Ndoki National Park reports that the ducks regularly feed on the insects found in elephant dung. They’ll also eat seeds and insect larvae. To remove ectoparasites, these ducks have been observed jumping onto the backs of bongo and forest buffalo. They are most active in the early morning and evening.

Conservación

In 2006, there were reported to be between 26,000 and 110,000 Hartlaub’s ducks in the world. Hartlaub’s ducks were formerly considered threatened, and as of 2020, they are not considered to be threatened. One of the largest threats to the Hartlaub's duck is forest destruction, hunting, and water pollution from mining and poison-fishing. This species is hunted and traded for medicinal purposes in Nigeria.

Tendencia poblacional

declining