Wild Bird Wednesday 730 - Garganey

One of the things that surprised me during my recent trip was seeing a  number of birds that I recognised.  These species included ducks, waders, birds of prey, and some wagtails.  New species outnumbered familiar ones many times over, but seeing some old friends that don't make it to Australia was rather good value.

One of the duck species that I saw was the Garganey (Spatula querquedula).  This is not an easy bird to see in either the UK or Australia so I was pleased to bump into some at the Bharatpur bird sanctuary - or the Keoladeo National Park as it is now formally known - in the state of Rajasthan.

This species was once considered to be very closely related to the familiar Mallard - but (and this is a recouping theme in this blog), more detailed study has revealed that this is not the case, and the species was reclassified into a genus that contains species such as the Northern Shoveler (Spatula clypeata).

Garganey are reasonably small ducks - smaller than Mallard - and the males have a very distinctive white stripe behind the eye.The females of this species lack this clear feature, but still have a clear head pattern.  The Garganey is a widespread and common winter visitor to India.

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