Marine Wildlife Encyclopedia
Common Shelduck Tadorna tadorna
With its brightly colored body and orange-red bill, the common shelduck is an eye-catching inhabitant of muddy shores. Normally seen in pairs, it feeds by dabbling in mud to collect small animals exposed by the falling tide. The common shelduck nests in holes, and raises up to nine young each year. After breeding, common shelducks gather together to moult in flocks of up to 100,000 birds.
zoom image
- Order Anseriformes
- Length 23–26 in (58–67 cm)
- Weight 2–3 lb (0.85–1.45 kg)
- Habitat Coasts, estuaries, salt lakes
- Distribution Europe, North Africa, Asia
zoom image
