Anas bahamensis

White-cheeked pintail, or Bahama pintail, or Summer duck(Anas bahamensis)

Phylumchordata
Class — aves
Order — anseriformes
Family — anatidae

Genus –anas

Appearance

Length: 38 to 50 cm. Weight: 475 to 530 g.

Adult has brown upperparts with black feathers bordered with pale buff on back. Tail is pointed and yellowish. Wing coverts are brown. Great coverts have yellowish tips. Tertials are blackish with pale brown edges. Secondary bases show metallic green band and black sub terminal band with broad yellowish edge on the tip. Underparts are warm brown, spotted with black on breast and belly. Undertail coverts are yellowish. Underwing is dark, except paler central band, blackish flight feathers and pale trailing edge. Crown and nape are brown, slightly spotted with dark. Sides of the head, throat and upper neck are pure white. Bill is blue-grey with red sides at base of upper mandible, and black nail. Eyes are brown. Legs and webbed feet are dark grey.

Both sexes are similar, but female has duller bill and face, and shorter tail. Female is slightly smaller than male.

Juvenile resembles adults, but with slightly duller bill and plumage.

Habitat

Widespread in the Caribbean and South America, this marsh duck sometimes wanders to Florida, mainly in winter.

Behavior

It is usually seen alone or in pairs, or in small group of 10 to 12 birds, but also in larger flocks of up to 100 birds and more.

It is a fearful and shy bird.

Diet

The white-cheeked pintail feeds on aquatic plants and small creatures obtained by dabbling.

Reproduction

Breeding varies according to the range.

White-cheeked pintail pair forms after post-breeding moult. It may nest solitary or in small groups. The nest is situated on the ground, near water. It is concealed among and under the thick vegetation of the shore, or among the roots in mangroves. Female lays 6 to 10 creamy eggs. Incubation lasts about 25 to 26 days.

In captivity

Lifespan in captivity is up to 30 years.

In summer, pintails are kept in outdoor enclosures. The minimum size of the enclosure is 4 square meters: one meter fora bird.

In the cold season, birds are kept in sections of the poultry house. Access to paddocks is open only on warm, windless, sunny days and only during the daytime.

In winter, white-cheeked pintails should be transferred to an insulated enclosure with a temperature of at least +10 °C.It is desirable to equip the enclosure with additives in the form of branches and perches.In the winter room, you must install a pool with running or frequently replaced water.

As a winter bedding for waterfowl, you can use soft hay, which is laid out in places where birds rest.

The diet includes grain feed-corn, wheat, barley, millet, oatmeal, wheat bran, grass, meat and fish meal, chalk, small shell, gammarus. In the warm season, it is good to give various greens - cut dandelion leaves, lettuce, plantain, duckweed. Good food for ducks - wet mixture of grated carrots, bran, various cereals. During the reproductive period and during molting, they are mixed with wet food or given separately: fish and minced meat. During working out a diet it should be calculated that the amount of raw protein does not exceed 18-19%. The optimal proportion of protein food in the food will be 6-8%.

White-cheeked pintailsare friendly to other birds, so they can be kept in the same pond with other members of the Anatidae family.

Artificial shelters for nests are installed in the paddock. Ducks independently incubate, breed and raise young ducklings.

 

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