Marbled duck (Marmaronetta angustirostris)

Marbled duck on ground
Marbled duck on ground

Marbled duck fact file

Marbled duck description

KingdomAnimalia
PhylumChordata
ClassAves
OrderAnseriformes
FamilyAnatidae
GenusMarmaronetta (1)

An elegant bird, the marbled duck suits its name, having a brown body speckled with cream. Its dark eye-patch blends into a broad stripe from the eye to the nape, including a slight crest on the back of the head. With its low, slow flight and noticeably long neck and wings, this duck is easily identifiable in flight. Displaying males give a squeaking ‘jeep’, but this species is otherwise quiet (2).

Perhaps surprisingly, the marbled duck is more closely related to the diving pochards than to the teals and other dabbling ducks that it resembles, and it is almost an intermediate between the two (7).

Also known as
Marbled teal.
Synonyms
Anas angustirostris.
French
Sarcelle marbrée.
Size
Length: 39 – 42 cm (2)
Top

Marbled duck biology

Before moving from the wintering grounds to the breeding grounds, pairs form strong seasonal pair bonds that lasting until incubation. The female incubates between 4 and 12 eggs, from late April through to early July, in a shallow depression concealed by reeds, and lined with grass and down, but at this time the male deserts the female. After 25 to 27 days the eggs hatch, and the hatchlings are cared for by the female until they fledge 55 days later. Outside the breeding season, marbled ducks form small groups and sometimes larger flocks (8).

Marbled ducks feed on small seeds and aquatic invertebrates, dabbling and filtering mud during the early morning and evening, but resting during the day. Population size fluctuates in response to annual differences in rainfall, and individuals will disperse widely to find suitable habitat (2).

Top

Marbled duck range

There are three distinct populations of marbled duck. The first has a fragmented distribution in the western Mediterranean and winters in north and sub-Saharan west Africa. The second breeds in the eastern Mediterranean and winters in Egypt, and the third breeds in western and southern Asia, wintering in Iran, Pakistan and northwest India. A sharp decline has left this species with between 9,000 and 19,000 individuals (2).

Top

Marbled duck habitat

Preferring brackish waters, the marbled teal is found on temporary wetlands with plenty of new vegetation (2).

Top

Marbled duck status

The marbled duck is classified as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List (1) and is listed on Appendices I and II of the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS or Bonn Convention) (3). It is also listed on Appendix II of the Bern Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats (4), Annex I of the EC Birds Directive (5) and Annex II of the African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbird Agreement (AEWA) (6).

IUCN Red List species status – Vulnerable

Top

Marbled duck threats

Over half of the marbled duck’s habitat was destroyed during the 20th century when wetlands across its range were drained for agriculture. Breeding sites were degraded in Tunisia, Turkey, Morocco and Spain during hydrological work that resulted in reed cutting and burning. Pollution from agricultural, industrial and domestic sources is also a threat, and the species is at risk from lead poisoning. When breeding, marbled ducks are targeted by hunters and egg collectors (2).

Top

Marbled duck conservation

The marbled duck is protected by law in many countries throughout its range. Conservation action has targeted this species in Spain, and surveys have been carried out in Morocco and Turkey. A European Action Plan was published in 1996 and updated in 2008, and proposes regular population monitoring, research into the species’ ecology, protection of all habitats regularly home to it, prevention of mortality, and increased public awareness (2) (9).

View information on this species at the UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre.

Top

Find out more

For further information on the marbled duck see:

Top

Authentication

Authenticated (03/09/10) by Dr H. Glyn Young, Conservation Biologist, Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust.
http://www.durrell.org/

Top

Glossary

Incubation
The act of incubating eggs; that is, keeping them warm so that development is possible.
Invertebrates
Animals with no backbone, such as insects, crustaceans, worms, molluscs, spiders, cnidarians (jellyfish, corals, sea anemones), echinoderms, and others.
Top

References

  1. IUCN Red List (January, 2010)
    http://www.iucnredlist.org/
  2. BirdLife International (January, 2010)
    http://www.birdlife.org/datazone/search/species_search.html?action=SpcHTMDetails.asp&sid=467&m=0
  3. Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (April, 2008)
    http://www.cms.int/
  4. Council of Europe: Bern Convention (March, 2005)
    http://conventions.coe.int/Treaty/EN/Treaties/Html/104.htm
  5. EC Birds Directive (March, 2005)
    http://www.jncc.gov.uk/page-1373
  6. Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (March, 2005)
    http://www.unep-aewa.org/
  7. Kear, J. (2005) Ducks, Geese and Swans. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK.
  8. BirdLife International (2001) Threatened Birds of Asia: the BirdLife International Red Data Book. BirdLife International, Cambridge, UK. Available at:
    http://birdbase.hokkaido-ies.go.jp/rdb/rdb_en/marmangu.pdf
  9. Iñigo, A., Barov, B., Orhun, C. and Gallo-Orsi, U. (2008) Species Action Plan for the Marbled Teal Marmaronetta angustirostris in the European Union. BirdLife International, Cambridge, UK. Available at:
    http://ec.europa.eu/environment/nature/conservation/wildbirds/action_plans/docs/marmaronetta_angustirostris.pdf

More »Related species

Velvet scoter (Melanitta fusca)Kerguelen pintail (Anas eatoni)Falcated duck (Anas falcata)Common scoter (Melanitta nigra)Common merganser (Mergus merganser)Brent goose (Branta bernicla)Common shelduck (Tadorna tadorna)Gadwall (Anas strepera)

This species is featured in:

This species is featured in the Mediterranean Basin eco-region

Please donate to ARKive today

Help us share the wonders of the natural world. Donate today!

Sign up to our newsletter

Get the latest wild news direct to your inbox.

Get involved

ARKive relies on its media donors to donate photos and videos. Can you help? There are plenty of other ways you can get involved too!

X
Close

Image credit

Marbled duck on ground  
Marbled duck on ground

© Kenneth W. Fink / www.ardea.com

Ardea wildlife pets environment
35 Brodrick Road
Wandsworth Common
London
SW17 7DX
United Kingdom
Tel: +44 (0) 208 672 2067
Fax: +44 (0) 208 672 8787
ardea@ardea.co.uk
http://www.ardea.com

X
Close

Link to this photo

ARKive species - Marbled duck (Marmaronetta angustirostris) Embed this ARKive thumbnail link by copying and pasting the code below.

Terms of Use - The displayed thumbnail may be used as a link from your website to ARKive's online content for private, scientific, conservation or educational purposes only. It may NOT be used within Apps.

Read more about

X
Close

MyARKive

MyARKive offers the scrapbook feature to signed-up members, allowing you to organize your favourite ARKive images and videos and share them with friends.

X
Close

Terms and Conditions of Use of Materials

Copyright in this website and materials contained on this website (Material) belongs to Wildscreen or its licensors.

Visitors to this website (End Users) are entitled to:

  • view the contents of, and Material on, the website;
  • download and retain copies of the Material on their personal systems in digital form in low resolution for their own personal use;
  • teachers, lecturers and students may incorporate the Material in their educational material (including, but not limited to, their lesson plans, presentations, worksheets and projects) in hard copy and digital format for use within a registered educational establishment, provided that the integrity of the Material is maintained and that copyright ownership and authorship is appropriately acknowledged by the End User.

End Users shall not copy or otherwise extract, alter or manipulate Material other than as permitted in these Terms and Conditions of Use of Materials.

Additional use of flagged material

Green flagged material 

Certain Material on this website (Licence 4 Material) displays a green flag next to the Material and is available for not-for-profit conservation or educational use. This material may be used by End Users, who are individuals or organisations that are in our opinion not-for-profit, for their not-for-profit conservation or not-for-profit educational purposes. Low resolution, watermarked images may be copied from this website by such End Users for such purposes. If you require high resolution or non-watermarked versions of the Material, please contact Wildscreen with details of your proposed use.

Creative commons material

Certain Material on this website has been licensed to Wildscreen under a Creative Commons Licence. These images are clearly marked with the Creative Commons buttons and may be used by End Users only in the way allowed by the specific Creative Commons Licence under which they have been submitted. Please see http://creativecommons.org for details.

Any other use

Please contact the copyright owners directly (copyright and contact details are shown for each media item) to negotiate terms and conditions for any use of Material other than those expressly permitted above. Please note that many of the contributors to ARKive are commercial operators and may request a fee for such use.

Save as permitted above, no person or organisation is permitted to incorporate any copyright material from this website into any other work or publication in any format (this includes but is not limited to: websites, Apps, CDs, DVDs, intranets, extranets, signage, digital communications or on printed materials for external or other distribution). Use of the Material for promotional, administrative or for-profit purposes is not permitted.