1 / 6
Ruddy Shelduck (Tadorna ferruginea) — photo 1 of 6
© Diego Delso CC BY-SA 4.0

Ducks, geese, and swans · Waterfowl

Ruddy Shelduck

Tadorna ferruginea

Year-round

Voice

Call

Pascal Christe

0:26

Call

Pascal Christe

0:09

How to recognize it

  • Large, goose-like silhouette; long neck, high on legs

  • Orange-brown body, paler head and neck

  • White wing panels with black flight feathers and tail

  • Loud nasal honking, often heard in flight

About the species

Ruddy Shelduck is easy to remember for its warm rufous look and goose-like stance. In flight, the dark wings and contrasting pale areas give it a bold, unmistakable profile.

Its voice is loud and honking, and it carries both on the water and in the air. It usually keeps to pairs or small groups, though it can turn quite assertive and noisy in the breeding season.

It favours open inland waters, from lakes and rivers to reservoirs and ponds, and it is not fussy about slightly salty water. It feeds on land and in shallow margins, taking plants, seeds, insects and other available food; many populations migrate, while some city-pond groups stay through winter.

Did you know?

  • Paired for life, every season

    Ruddy shelducks pair for life: the male and female stay faithful to each other to the end and keep together through every season.

  • Nesting in attics

    Moscow's ruddy shelducks pick nest sites in parks and on ponds — and also in the attics of apartment buildings right in the city.

  • Africa's only Europe-bound migrant

    Of the roughly 2,500 ruddy shelducks breeding in northwest Africa, up to 200 once wintered in southern Spain. They are only African nesting species known to migrate north into Europe.

Where to find

  • On calm ponds and reservoirs with open water—especially bare shorelines where a pair or a small group stands out, honking loudly from the water.

  • Along canal banks and unfrozen river stretches in winter—easiest to spot while feeding in the shallows, tipping forward like a goose.

  • In older parks with ponds and waterfowl houses, where it steps onto the lawn to graze on grass and seeds near the water’s edge.

  • Sometimes around bridges and stone embankments, and at dusk it may fly low over the water with heavy, slow wingbeats.

You might also see

Sources