Puna Teal (Anas puna)

Puna Teal

[order] ANSERIFORMES | [family] Anatidae | [latin] Anas puna | [authority] Tschudi, 1844 | [UK] Puna Teal | [FR] Sarcelle de la puna | [DE] Punaente | [ES] Pato Puneno (Arg) | [NL] Puna Taling

Subspecies

Genus Species subspecies Region Range
Anas puna SA Peru to nw Argentina

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

Puna Teal is a striking dabbling duck of the mountains in South America. Previously considered conspecific with the buff-cheeked Silver Teal (Anas versicolor), Puna Teal is brown and gray barred with a dark cap, white cheeks and a bright blue bill. Both sexes share similar plumage features, though males are larger than females.

Listen to the sound of Puna Teal

[audio:http://www.planetofbirds.com/MASTER/ANSERIFORMES/Anatidae/sounds/Puna Teal.mp3]

Copyright remark: Most sounds derived from xeno-canto


wingspan min.: 0 cm wingspan max.: 25 cm
size min.: 48 cm size max.: 51 cm
incubation min.: 27 days incubation max.: 50 days
fledging min.: 60 days fledging max.: 1 days
broods: 6   eggs min.: 9  
      eggs max.: 0  

Range

South America : resident in the Andes of Peru, western Bolivia, northern Chile, and extreme northwestern Argentina

Habitat

High Andean plateaux, large lakes, ponds, marshes, in dry tussock-grass moorland

Reproduction

Breeding period is variable and prolonged; mainly November to January in northern Chile, July and August in Peru. Nest is built on dry ground, in tall coarse grass, not always very close to water. Clutch size is 6-10 eggs which are incubated for about 26 days. Young are fully self supporting after another 2 months.

Feeding habits

Diet consists of seeds of water plants, some insects.

Video Puna Teal

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5xk93UnHPI

copyright: Stefan Behrens


Conservation

This species has a very large range, and hence does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the range size criterion (Extent of Occurrence <20,000 km2 combined with a declining or fluctuating range size, habitat extent/quality, or population size and a small number of locations or severe fragmentation). The population trend appears to be stable, and hence the species does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the population trend criterion (>30% decline over ten years or three generations). The population size is very large, and hence does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the population size criterion (<10,000 mature individuals with a continuing decline estimated to be >10% in ten years or three generations, or with a specified population structure). For these reasons the species is evaluated as Least Concern.
It was previously regarded as a subspecies of the Silver Teal.
Puna Teal status Least Concern

Migration

Resident in the Puna zone of south-west South America:

Distribution map

Puna Teal distribution range map

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