SHELDUCK

Tadora todorno

Length          55cm

Wingspan    100-120cm

Weight          600-1500g

Population   100,000 birds

The shelduck is a large and distinctive duck found close to the coast all around the U.K. White, with a black, bottle green head and neck , a brown band around its breast and red bill. Both sexes look alike except the male has a knob on top of its bill during the summer. Juvenile shelducks look similar to adults except their colouration is duller.

Shelducks are monogamous and will mate for life. They are sociable birds and will live in large flocks leaving their young chicks in crèches with just one of two adults. Shelducks build their nests from grass and moss and lined with down in caves, tree holes or abandoned rabbit burrows. The female shelduck generally breed first in their second spring, however some males may not breed until they are almost five years old. The shelduck has one single brood per year and the eggs are laid at the end of April in a clutch of between 6 to 10 eggs. The eggs are incubated by the female for around 30 days with the young birds fledging in a further 6 weeks. Around 50% of the young make it water , with only around 10% making it to adults.

The shelduck’s diet consists of invertebrates , small shellfish , aquatic snails and plants. They forage in shallow water by upending and dabbling.

Classified as amber in the UK under birds of concern , as with most wildlife in the UK the shelduck is protected under the wildlife and countryside act , 1981

©️ Wildonline 2020

THE ART OF A GREAT URBAN WILDLIFE PHOTO

Here is a fantastic little video about Andrew Budziak who spends his nights photographing the animals of Toronto, Canada. Taking hundreds of hours to capture one photo, his work requires a tonne of persistence. see the video here

by phans66 December 5, 2021

NASHER & BRUSH

This must be a new fox , he seems totally confused and a little unsure. What is this strange automated brush thing ?

by phans66 December 2, 2021

NATURE NEWS

Nature News 1st December 2021 Wood wide web A science mission is set to explore one of the final frontiers of untapped knowledge on the planet – the fungal networks in the soil beneath us. Fungi form an underground network of connections with plant roots, helping to recycle nutrients and to lock up planet-warming CO2 […]

by phans66 December 1, 2021