Subspecies
Monotypic species
Genus
Anas is a genus of dabbling ducks. It includes mallards, wigeons, teals, pintails and shovelers in a number of subgenera. Some authorities prefer to elevate the subgenera to genus rank.[1] Indeed, as the moa-nalos are very close to this clade and may have evolved later than some of these lineages, it is rather the absence of a thorough review than lack of necessity that this genus is rather over-lumped. The phylogeny of this genus is one of the most confounded ones of all living birds. Research is hampered by the fact the radiation of the two major groups of Anas ? the teals and mallard groups ? took place in a very short time and fairly recently, roughly in the mid-late Pleistocene. Furthermore, hybridization may have long played a major role in Anas evolution, with within-subgenus hybrids regularly and between-subgenus hybrids not infrequently being fully fertile.[1] The relationships between species are much obscured by this fact, and mtDNA sequence data is of dubious value in resolving their relationships; on the other hand, nuclear DNA sequences evolve too slowly to resolve the phylogeny of the subgenus Anas for example. Some major clades can be discerned. For example, that the traditional subgenus Anas, the mallard group, forms a monophyletic (in the loose sense, i.e. non-holophyletic) group has never been seriously questioned by modern science and is as good as confirmed (but see below). On the other hand, the phylogeny of the teals is very confusing. For these reasons, the dabbling duck lineages more distantly related to mallard group (which includes the type species of Anas) than the wigeons should arguably be separated in their own genera. These would include the Baikal Teal, the Garganey, the spotted black-capped Punanetta group, and the shovelers and other blue-winged species. Whether the wigeons, which are very distinct in morphology and behavior, but much less so in mtDNA cytochrome b and NADH dehydrogenase subunit 2 sequences, should also be considered a distinct genus Mareca (including the Gadwall and Falcated Duck) is essentially the one remaining point of dispute as regards the question which taxa should remain in this genus and which ones should not.
Physical charateristics
| wingspan min.: | 70 | cm | wingspan max.: | 80 | cm |
| size min.: | 46 | cm | size max.: | 56 | cm |
| incubation min.: | 24 | days | incubation max.: | 26 | days |
| fledging min.: | 55 | days | fledging max.: | 70 | days |
| broods: | 1 | eggs min.: | 9 | ||
| eggs max.: | 11 |
Range
Habitat
Reproduction
Feeding habits
Video Australasian Shoveler
copyright: Stephen Wallace
Conservation
The Australasian shoveler was the first of the New Zealand ducks to take to the open ocean as a refuge from hunters. Their swift and erratic flight also aids in their survival but the species replies readily to decoys and callers. About 30,000 are shot each year in the duck shooting season, out of an estimated national population of just 150,000 birds. Unlike other dabbling ducks, the Australasian shoveler cannot supplement its diet by grazing on grass roots or grains. The edges of their bills have fine growths – lamellae – through which only soft foods can be sieved. They feed on fresh water invertebrates and the seeds of aquatic plants. They are sometimes found on flooded pasture but only to feed on worms and insects. The fertile, raupo-fringed lowland shallows that they prefer remain under constant threat of drainage.
Migration
Distribution map
