Family:
The ruddy shelduck, known in India as the Brahminy duck, is a large striking, gooselike duck. The male has rusty-orange plumage with a paler cream-coloured head and crown and distinctive black neck collar. It has a black rump and tail and white wings with black flight feathers. The bill, legs, and feet are black. The female is similar but smaller, and she has a paler face and lacks the neck collar.
The ruddy shelduck has a loud, nasal honking call and makes trumpeting notes before it takes off. The female’s call is lower than that of the male.
In some Buddhist countries, the ruddy shelduck is protected as its colour is said to resemble the robes of Buddhist monks.
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Ruddy shelducks eat mainly plant matter including grasses, leaves, seeds, the stems of aquatic plants, grains, and shoots. It will also supplement its diet with invertebrates such as worms, insects, molluscs, and crustaceans, as well as small fish and amphibians.
It grazes on land and on water dabbles in both shallows and greater depths.
The main breeding grounds of the ruddy shelduck are from southeast Europe, across Mongolia, to western China. It is a winter visitor to India and has colonised the Fuerteventura in the Canary Islands.
During breeding season it lives in large wetlands and rivers with mudflats, as well as lakes, swamps, and reservoirs. Our of breeding season it can be found in lowland streams, ponds, slow-moving rivers, flooded meadows, marshes, and lagoons.
