Hottentot Teal ( Anas hottentota, family: Anatidae)

hottentot teal Kruger National Park birds The Hottentot Teal (Latin name Anas hottentota) is described in Roberts Birds of Southern Africa, 7th Edition. This bird has a unique Roberts number of 107 and you will find a full description of this bird on page 114 also a picture of the Hottentot Teal on page 96. The Hottentot Teal belongs to the family of birds classified as Anatidae.

The map of the Kruger you see on this page shows the areas (coloured orange) where this bird has been identified. The basic information was provided by the Avian Demographic Unit based at UCT and I created the maps from that information ... the green dots show the locations of the various Kruger National Park Rest Camps

The Hottentot Teal is neither Endemic or near Endemic to the Kruger National Park. It is however a common resident

In terms of distribution of the Hottentot Teal in the Kruger National Park you may not see it in all areas. Hottentot Teal : see above distribution map.

Identification assistance for this avian species ...

The Hottentot Teal is a bird a little bit bigger than a starling. The height of the Hottentot Teal is about 36 cms and its weight is about 250 gms

You will find that the male Hottentot Teal plumage and colours are different to that of the female Hottentot Teal

  • Head is brown.
  • Eye is brown.
  • Bill is blue, grey.
  • Throat is white.
  • Back is brown.
  • Legs are blue, grey.

This bird has normally proportioned leg length.

Main diet items for this bird ...

The Hottentot Teal feeds in or around water mainly

Invertebrates

Seeds

Aquatic life forms

Breeding and nesting habits for this bird ...

The Hottentot Teal is monogamous unless its mate dies. In the event of a partner dying Anas hottentota will seek out a new mate

The nesting habit of Hottentot Teal is to create the nest on water. The bird lays eggs which are cream in colour and number between 5 to 12

Habitat and flocking behaviour for this bird ...

The preferred habitats for Hottentot Teal are: wetlands

You will normally see the Hottentot Teal in pairs or flocks and not as single birds.

Names of this avian species in other languages ...

Xhosa ... Unknown

Zulu ... iDada

Afrikaans ...Gevlekte Eend

German ... Hottentottenente, Pnktchenente

Portuguese ... Marreco-hotentote

French ... Sarcelle hottentote

Dutch ... Hottentottaling

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For in-depth birding information please refer to these authoritative avian references ...

Robert's 7th edition number ... 107

The main reference source for this data was "Roberts - Birds of Southern Africa, 7th Edition" . Other references were "Newmans Birds of the Kruger Park" by Keith Newman published circa 1980 . Names in foreign languages were obtained from the Percy Fitzpatrick Institute of African Ornithology, University of Cape Town website , www.fitzpatrick.uct.ac.za