Shelduck (Tadorna tadorna)
Topography (Anatomy and explanation)
Big, goose-sized duck. Gives an overall white impression. Reddish breast-band, dark blackish green head and black flight-feathers. Tip of tail black and adults with dark belly-band. Bill red. Males with red knob at base of bill. Juveniles duller, with white chin and no breast-band. Goose-like flight with slow wing-beats.
Sound:Male: Various whistling sounds. Often series of ricochet-like "piu" repeated with gradually rising and falling intensity. Also passerine-like "tzzrrrr". Female: different variants on deeper hoarse sounds like "ar-ar-ar-ar" sometimes with accented endings with rising pitch.
Display-call:
Distribution:
Wikipedia: map (se also Xeno-canto below)
Ecology:Birdlife ecology
Links:
Observation.org Latest observations
Image search Flickr NB! May give other species
CCSounds:Recorded by Louis A. Hansen,http://www.xeno-canto.org ,CC license
Description of main identification features in chosen species' appearance. Some bird anatomy terms are used, and it may be useful to study the photos above to learn them. All text written by Audun Eriksen.
Sound:Description of song and calls, and what to listen for in the audio files, and when learning the species. Some music terminology is used. Timbre: tone colour or tone quality. Ritardando: Tempo slowing down gradually. Register break: abrupt change in pitch due to sudden jump in resonating length of throat (typically in long-necked birds).
Distribution: Ecology:Link to webpage describing ecology and population of the species.
Links:
A collection of hyperlinks for each species can be found here. You can easily see latest observations, additional photos/sounds and watch videos of the species without having to search for the species name.
CCCreative Commons licenced photos and sounds are listed here with links. For media not listed, usage is permitted by direct appointment with copyright owner. See watermark on photos.