Maccoa Duck ( Oxyura maccoa, family: Dendrocygnidae)
The Maccoa Duck (Latin name Oxyura maccoa) is described in Roberts Birds
of Southern Africa, 7th Edition. This bird has a unique Roberts number
of 117 and you will find a full description of this bird on page 89 also
a picture of the Maccoa Duck on page 96. The Maccoa Duck belongs to the
family of birds classified as Dendrocygnidae.
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 Maccoa Duck is neither Endemic or near Endemic to the Kruger National Park.
In terms of distribution of the Maccoa Duck in the Kruger National Park you may not see it in all areas. Maccoa Duck has been recorded in only 1 sections of the arbitrary Kruger Park regions I selected.
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 Maccoa Duck is a largish bird a bit smaller than a Pied Crow. The height of the Maccoa Duck is about 51 cms and its weight is about 810 gms
You will find that the male Maccoa Duck plumage and colours are different to that of the female Maccoa Duck
- Head is black.
- Eye is brown.
- Bill is blue.
- Throat is black.
- Back is chestnut.
- Legs are grey.
This bird has normally proportioned leg length.
Main diet items for this bird ...
The Maccoa Duck feeds in or around water mainly
Invertebrates
Aquatic life forms
Breeding and nesting habits for this bird ...
The Maccoa Duck takes on more than a single mate (it is bigamous).
The nesting habit of Maccoa Duck is to create the nest on water. The bird lays eggs which are blue in colour and number between 4 to 8
Habitat and flocking behaviour for this bird ...
The preferred habitats for Maccoa Duck are: wetlands and riverine areas
You will normally see the Maccoa Duck in pairs or flocks and not as single birds.
Names of this avian species in other languages ...
Xhosa ... Idada
Zulu ... Unknown
Afrikaans ...Bloubekeend
German ... Maccoa-Ente
Portuguese ... Pato-de-rabo-alado-africano
French ... rismature maccoa
Dutch ... Afrikaanse Stekelstaart
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For in-depth birding information please refer to these authoritative avian references ...
Robert's 7th edition number ... 117
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
