Australian Wood Ducks or Maned Ducks
Duck Information ... Duck Species ... Photo Gallery
Backyard Habitat: Attracting Wildlife to Your Garden ... Bird Feeding Stations ... Nesting Habits of Wild Birds and Build-Your-Own Nesting Boxes ... Wild Bird Houses / Nests (Fancy & Practical) .... Water Fountains ... Bird Baths ...... Books, Videos, CDs & DVDs
The Australian Wood Duck or Maned Duck, Chenonetta jubata, is a dabbling duck found throughout much of Australia. It is the only living species in the genus Chenonetta. Traditionally placed in the Anatinae (dabbling duck) subfamily, it might actually belong to the Tadorninae (shelduck) subfamily (Sraml et al. 1996); possibly, the Ringed Teal is its closest living relative (Johnson & Sorenson 1999).
Its habitat is lightly wooded swamps and marshes. This abundant duck nests in a tree hole laying 8-12 eggs.
The male is grey with a dark brown head and mottled breast. The female has white stripes above and below the eye and mottled underparts. Both sexes have grey wings with black primaries and a white speculum.
This 45-51cm duck looks like a small goose, and feeds mostly by grazing. It rarely swims.
The flightless New Zealand species Chenonetta finschi (Finsch's Duck) which was formerly believed to constitute a monotypic genus (Euryanas) has been determined to belong to Chenonetta (Worthy & Olson 2002). It became extinct before scientists could properly survey the New Zealand avifauna, but possibly as late as 1870.
Copyright: Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from Wikipedia.org.
If you would like to add to or correct any of the above information, or would like to share with the AvianWeb visitors your own experiences, please e-mail the AvianWeb Webmaster.
Photo contributions and articles are welcome!








