Perching Ducks
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The perching ducks ("Cairininae" or "Cairinini") were previously treated as a small group of ducks in the duck, goose and swan family Anatidae, grouped together on the basis of their readiness to perch high in trees. It has been subsequently shown that the grouping is paraphyletic* and their apparent similarity results from convergent evolution, with the different members more closely related to various other ducks than to each other (Livezey 1986).
(*Paraphyletic = some, but not all, of the descendants from a common ancestor)
The species previously included, and their current subfamilial allocation, are:
Plectropterinae
- Spur-winged Goose Plectropterus gambensis
Tadorninae
- Salvadori's Teal Salvadorina waigiuensis (initially placed in Anatinae)
- Blue Duck Hymenolaimus malacorhynchos
- Torrent Duck Merganetta armata
Anatinae
- Brazilian Duck Amazonetta brasiliensis
In addition, several species cannot with certainty be allocated to a subfamily, though they do not form a distinct clade. Rather, their characters are too ambiguous to allow unequivocal placement based on the available data (Livezey 1986, Sraml et al. 1996, Johnson & Sorenson 1999):
- Comb Duck Sarkidiornis melanotos: Tadorninae or basal Anatinae?
- Pink-eared Duck Malacorhynchus membranaceus: Tadorninae or Oxyurinae?
- Hartlaub's Duck Pteronetta hartlaubi: Anatinae or a very distinct clade?
- Green Pygmy Goose Nettapus pulchellus: Anatinae or a Gondwanan clade?
- Cotton Pygmy Goose Nettapus coromandellanus: Anatinae or a Gondwanan clade?
- African Pygmy Goose Nettapus auritus: Anatinae or a Gondwanan clade?
- Muscovy Duck Cairina moschata: Anatinae or Tadorninae?
- White-winged Wood Duck Cairina scutulata: Anatinae or closer to Aythyinae?
- Wood Duck Aix sponsa: Anatinae or Tadorninae?
- Mandarin Duck Aix galericulata: Anatinae or Tadorninae?
- Ringed Teal Callonetta leucophrys: Anatinae or Tadorninae?
- Maned Duck Chenonetta jubata: Anatinae or Tadorninae?
Copyright: Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from Wikipedia.org
Diet / Feeding:
Ducks generally feed on larvae and pupae usually found under rocks, aquatic animals, plant material, seeds, small fish, snails and crabs.
Feeding Ducks ...
We all enjoy ducks and many of us offer them food to encourage them to come over and stay around - and it works! Who doesn't like an easy meal!
However, the foods that we traditionally feed them at local ponds are utterly unsuitable for them and are likely to cause health problems down the road. Also, there may be local laws against feeding this species of bird - so it's best to check on that rather than facing consequences at a later stage.
- Click here to find out which foods to feed them that will offer the nutrition they need to survive a cold winter and remain healthy
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