Indian Spot-billed Duck

Photo Courtesy: Wikipedia

        Introduction of Indian Spot-billed Duck

    The Indian spot-billed duck (Scientific Name: Anas poecilorhyncha) which  is known by many names including the Yellow-Nib, Indian Spot-Billed, Spotbill etc. is a large non-migratory dabbling duck  which breeds in tropical and eastern Asia.

            How to Identify Indian Spot-Billed Duck

      Spot-Billed Duck  is around the same size as a mallard. It is mainly grey colored ducks with a paler head and neck.  Bill is black but tip of the bill is  bright yellow.  Wings color are whitish and above the wings have  a distinctive white bordered green speculum and have black flight feathers under the wings.  The male has a orange red spot on the base of the bill from which the name derived. This orange red spot is absent in female. It is  55 - 63 cm in length and 83 - 95 cm across the wings, and weight is around 790 - 1500 g. The legs and feet are bright orange. The male does not have an eclipse plumage. Juveniles are browner and duller than adults.
   Both males and females undergo a complete postnuptial moult, dropping all their wing feathers simultaneously.
           Distribution
   Indian Spot-billed Duck  are native to Asia. It is found  in large numbers in Haryana, India, but also in Pakistan, China, southern Japan and the USSR. but  the eastern spot-billed duck (A. p. zonorhyncha) is migratory.
          Subspecies
  It has three  subspecies. Indian spot-billed duck (A. poecilorhyncha poecilorhyncha), Eastern spot-billed duck (A. poecilorhyncha zonorhyncha) and Burmese spot-billed duck (A. poecilorhyncha haringtoni).

          Habits and habitats

     The Indian spot-billed duck is a bird of freshwater. It lives in freshwater lakes, ponds, rivers and marshes and are normally found in waters with a depth of 0-1,867 meters or 0-6,125 feet. Except breeding  season it lives in  small flocks.
          Call
     Both the male and female have calls similar to the mallard.
          Food 
    It is quite gregarious. It feeds by dabbling for plant food mainly in the evening or at night .Wild grain, seeds, shoots of aquatic plants; occasionally water insects, worms, water-snails are main food of  the Indian spot-billed duck.

         Breeding and Nesting

     Breeding season varies according to  rainfall and water condition.  In northern India breeding season starts  from July to September and November to December in southern India. Indian spot-billed duck are monogamous. It build  nest on the dry ground on  piles of thick moss, grass or vegetation near water. and lays 8-14 eggs. Incubation begins after the last egg is laid and incubation period is about 26-30 days. The chicks are black with a yellow back and almost similar to those of mallards chick but Spot-billed chicks has  wider eyestripe.  females will lay 7-10 white colored eggs that she incubates for 26-30 days.