African Black Duck ( Anas sparsa, family: Anatidae)

African black duck kruger national park pbirds The African Black Duck (Latin name Anas sparsa) is described in Roberts Birds of Southern Africa, 7th Edition. This bird has a unique Roberts number of 105 and you will find a full description of this bird on page 103 also a picture of the African Black Duck on page 97. The African Black Duck belongs to the family of birds classified as Anatidae. According to the Percy FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology the African Black Duck is also known by these other names: Black Duck, Black River Duck.

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 African Black Duck is neither Endemic or near Endemic to the Kruger National Park.

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

Identification assistance for this avian species ...

One of the first indicators to take note of when trying to identify a bird is it relative size. For example how big is the bird compared to a well known familiar bird. The African Black Duck is a largish bird about the same size as a Pied Crow. The height of the African Black Duck is about 58 cms and its weight is about 1090 gms

The male and female African Black Duck have the same plumage and colours

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

This bird has normally proportioned leg length.

Main diet items for this bird ...

The African Black Duck feeds in or around water mainly

Invertebrates

Seeds

Aquatic life forms

Breeding and nesting habits for this bird ...

The African Black Duck is monogamous unless its mate dies. In the event of a partner dying Anas sparsa will seek out a new mate

The nesting habit of African Black Duck is to create the nest in branches of a tree or shrub. The bird lays eggs which are yellow in colour and number between 4 to 9

Habitat and flocking behaviour for this bird ...

The preferred habitats for African Black Duck are: woodlands and grasslands and riverine areas

Names of this avian species in other languages ...

Xhosa ... Idada

Zulu ... iDada

Afrikaans ...Swarteend

German ... Schwarzente

Portuguese ... Pato-preto-africano

French ... Canard noirtre

Dutch ... Afrikaanse Zwarte Eend

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

Robert's 7th edition number ... 105

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