The Philippine duck (Anas luzonica) is a large dabbling duck of the genusAnas. Its native name is papan. It is the only endemic duck in the Philippines. It is threatened by hunting and habitat loss.
It eats shrimp, fish, insects, and vegetation, and it frequents all types of wetlands.[2]
Description
The Philippine duck is a large conspicuous duck. It has a black crown, nape and eye stripe, with a cinnamon head and neck. The rest of its body is greyish brown with a bright green speculum. Its legs are greyish brown, and its bill is bluish-grey. The female is somewhat smaller than the male, but is otherwise the same.[3]
The scientific name comes from the Latin Anas, 'duck' and the Philippine island Luzon.
It is known in the Philippines as papan.
Distribution and habitat
The Philippine duck is known to inhabit all of the major Philippine islands and 8 minor islands, but since the 1980s most sightings have been on Luzon and Mindanao.[3][5] Long-distance vagrants have been sighted in Okinawa and Taiwan.
It is found in all types of wetlands within its range, but its preferred habitat is shallow freshwater marshland.[3]
Ecology and behavior
The diet of the Philippine duck includes plants, rice, molluscs and crustaceans. It is also reported to also feed fish, froggs and insects. It is reported to be a pest in farms as they supposedly damage newly sown fields and germinating seeds. This species is more active in the early morning, evening and bright moonlit nights. Typically seen in pairs or small groups but flocks of up to 2,000 have been seen, possibly even larger before this species was heavily hunted. It is seen associating with other ducks including Wandering whistling duck, Garganey, Northern shoveler, Eurasian wigeon and Tufted duck.
Not much is known about its breeding habits in the wild. Nests found were well concealed with 10 eggs. Breeding season is believed to be March to November with the peak in July to August. Incubation takes 25 to 27 days and only the female incubates. Fledging occurs at around 8 weeks. [6]
Conservation status
The Philippine duck is rated vulnerable on the IUCN Red List with the population estimated to be 3,300 - 6,700 mature individuals remaining. The species has experienced steep population decreases since the 1970s mainly due to hunting and habitat loss. The ducks have been heavily hunted since the 1960s with thousands being hunted a year through the late 1980s.[5]
Habitat loss is mainly due to wetland drainage, aquaculture, mangrove destruction and fishpond creation.[3]
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