stiff-tailed duck
{{Short description|Genus of birds}}
{{Automatic taxobox
| fossil_range = Early Miocene to present
| image = Weißkopfruderente Oxyura leucocephala 050324 Ausschnitt.jpg
| image_caption = Male white-headed duck, Oxyura leucocephala
| taxon = Oxyura
| authority = Bonaparte, 1828
| type_species = Anas rubidus (ruddy duck)
| type_species_authority = Wilson, 1814
| subdivision_ranks = Species
| subdivision =
{{extinct}}Oxyura vantetsi
| range_map = Oxyura distribution.svg
| range_map_caption = Key:
{{leftlegend|#aa0a3c|Oxyura vittata}}
{{leftlegend|#f0f032|Oxyura ferruginea}}
{{leftlegend|#0ab45a|Oxyura maccoa}}
{{leftlegend|#14d2dc|Oxyura leucocephala}}
{{leftlegend|#005ac8|Oxyura jamaicensis}}
{{leftlegend|#8214a0|Oxyura australis}}
}}
The stiff-tailed ducks, the genus Oxyura, are part of the Oxyurini tribe of ducks.
All ducks in the genus have, as their name implies, long, stiff tail feathers which are erect when the bird is resting. They all have relatively large, swollen bills. These are freshwater diving ducks. Their legs are set far back, which makes them awkward on land and they rarely leave the water.
Their uncommon displays involve drumming noises from inflatable throat sacs, throwing its head back, and erect short crests on its head. Plumage sequences are complicated and aging difficult.{{citation needed|date=February 2024}} Plumage is vital for survival because the bird spends most of its time in the water.
Taxonomy
The genus Oxyura was introduced (as a subgenus) in 1828 by the French naturalist Charles Lucien Bonaparte to accommodate a single taxon, Anas rubidus Wilson, 1814. It is now considered to be a synonym of Anas jamaicensis Gmelin 1789, the ruddy duck.{{ cite journal | last=Bonaparte | first=Charles Lucien | author-link=Charles Lucien Bonaparte | year=1828 | title=The genera of North American birds, and a synopsis of the species found within the territory of the United States ; systematically arranged in orders and families (continued) | journal=Annals of the Lyceum of Natural History of New York | volume=2 | pages=293–432 [390] | doi=10.1111/j.1749-6632.1826.tb00254.x | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/15911455 }}{{ cite book | editor1-last=Mayr | editor1-first=Ernst | editor1-link=Ernst Mayr | editor2-last=Cottrell | editor2-first=G. William | year=1979 | title=Check-List of Birds of the World | volume=1 | edition=2nd | publisher=Museum of Comparative Zoology | place=Cambridge, Massachusetts | page=501 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/16109141 }} The genus name is derived from Ancient Greek oxus, meaning "sharp" and oura meaning "tail".{{cite book | last=Jobling | first=James A. | year=2010| title= The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names | publisher=Christopher Helm | location=London | isbn= 978-1-4081-2501-4 | page=287 | url=https://archive.org/stream/Helm_Dictionary_of_Scientific_Bird_Names_by_James_A._Jobling#page/n287/mode/1up }}
The six extant members of the genus are distributed widely throughout North America, South America, Australia, Asia, and much of Africa.{{cite web| editor1-last=Gill | editor1-first=Frank | editor1-link=Frank Gill (ornithologist) | editor2-last=Donsker | editor2-first=David | editor3-last=Rasmussen | editor3-first=Pamela | editor3-link=Pamela Rasmussen | date=January 2022 | title=Screamers, ducks, geese & swans | work=IOC World Bird List Version 12.1 | url=https://www.worldbirdnames.org/bow/waterfowl/ | publisher=International Ornithologists' Union | access-date=4 July 2022 }}
Species
{{Species table |genus= Oxyura |authority-name=Bonaparte|authority-year= 1828 |species-count=six|no-note=y|narrow-percent=75}}
{{Species table/row
|name=Blue-billed duck |binomial=Oxyura australis
|image=File:Australian Blue Billed Duck.jpg|image-size=180px |image-alt=|image-caption=Male
|image2 =File:Blue-billed Duck female - Penrith.jpg|image2-caption=Female
|authority-name=Gould|authority-year= 1837 |authority-not-original=
|range= Australia
|range-image=File:Oxyura australis distribution.svg
|range-image-size=180px
|size=
|habitat=
|hunting=
|iucn-status= LC
|population=
|direction=
|subspecies=
}}
{{Species table/row
|name=Ruddy duck |binomial=Oxyura jamaicensis
|image=File:Ruddy Duck - Flickr - treegrow.jpg|image-size=180px |image-alt=|image-caption=Male
|image2 =File:Ruddy Duck female RWD.jpg|image2-caption=Female
|authority-name=Gmelin|authority-year= 1789 |authority-not-original=yes
|range= North and South America (+ British Isles,{{cite book |last1=Mullarney |display-authors=etal |first1=Killian |title=Bird Guide |publisher=Collins |isbn=0-00-711332-3 |page=68 |date=2001}} France, & Spain (introduced))
|range-image=File:OxyuraJamaicensisIUCN.svg
|range-image-size=180px
|size=
|habitat=
|hunting=
|iucn-status= LC
|population=
|direction=
|subspecies=
}}
{{Species table/row
|name=Andean duck |binomial=Oxyura ferruginea
|image=File:Rm pb erismature des andes. wiki.jpg|image-size=180px |image-alt=|image-caption=Male
|image2 =File:Oxyura ferruginea (Pato andino) hembra, Armenia, Colombia (4834538300).jpg|image2-caption=Female
|authority-name=Eyton |authority-year=1838 |authority-not-original=yes
|range= Andes Mountains of South America
|range-image=File:Oxyura ferruginea distribution.svg
|range-image-size=180px
|size=
|habitat=
|hunting=
|iucn-status= LC
|population=
|direction=
|subspecies=
}}
{{Species table/row
|name=White-headed duck |binomial=Oxyura leucocephala
|image=File:Oxyura leucocephala, Clot-de-Galvany, Alicante 1.jpg|image-size=180px |image-alt=|image-caption=Male
|image2 =File:Female white headed duck.JPG|image2-caption=Female
|authority-name=Scopoli|authority-year= 1769 |authority-not-original=yes
|range= Spain, North Africa, and western and central Asia
|range-image=File:OxyuraLeucocephala.png
|range-image-size=180px
|size=
|habitat=
|hunting=
|iucn-status= EN
|population=
|direction=
|subspecies=
}}
{{Species table/row
|name=Maccoa duck |binomial=Oxyura maccoa
|image=File:Oxyura maccoa.jpg|image-size=180px |image-alt=|image-caption=Male
|authority-name=Eyton |authority-year=1838 |authority-not-original=yes
|range= eastern Africa from Sudan and Ethiopia to Tanzania and west to eastern Zaire, and southern Africa from Zimbabwe to Cape Province, South Africa
|range-image=File:Oxyura maccoa distribution.svg
|range-image-size=180px
|size=
|habitat=
|hunting=
|iucn-status= EN
|population=
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|subspecies=
}}
{{Species table/row
|name=Lake duck |binomial=Oxyura vittata
|image=File:Argentine Blue bill (Oxyura vittata) RWD.jpg|image-size=180px |image-alt=|image-caption=Male
|image2 =File:Oxyura vittata 83333713.jpg|image2-caption=Female
|authority-name=Philippi |authority-year=1860 |authority-not-original=yes
|range= central Chile, Argentina and southern Uruguay
|range-image=File:Oxyura vittata distribution.svg
|range-image-size=180px
|size=
|habitat=
|hunting=
|iucn-status= LC
|population=
|direction=
|subspecies=
}}
{{Species table/end}}
A fossil species from the Late Pliocene or Early Pleistocene of Jalisco (Mexico) was described as Oxyura zapatanima. It resembled a small ruddy duck or, even more, an Argentine blue-bill.{{cite journal|last=Alvarez|first=R.| year=1977| title=A Pleistocene avifauna from Jalisco, Mexico | journal=Contributions from the Museum of Paleontology, The University of Michigan | volume=24 |issue=19 | pages=205–220 | url=https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/handle/2027.42/48486}}
A larger Middle Pleistocene fossil form from California was originally described as Oxyura bessomi.{{cite journal|last=Howard|first=H.| year=1963| title=Fossil birds from the Anza-Borrego Desert | journal=Contributions in Science | volume=73| pages=1-33 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/part/241021}} A re-examination of the type specimen revealed it instead most likely belongs within the genus Anas, with referred specimens lying within the range of the ruddy duck.{{cite journal |first=Guthrie |last=Daniel A.| year= 2010 | title=Avian material from Rancho del Oro, a Pleistocene locality in San Diego County, California |journal=Bulletin of the Southern California Academy of Sciences| volume=109 | issue=1 | pages=1-7 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/part/292054 | doi=10.3160/0038-3872-109.1.1}}
"Oxyura" doksana from the Early Miocene of Dolnice (Czech Republic) cannot be assigned to any anatine subfamily with certainty.Worthy et al. (2007)
References
{{Reflist}}
==Further reading==
- Worthy, Trevor H.; Tennyson, A.J.D.; Jones, C.; McNamara, J.A. & Douglas, B.J. (2007): Miocene waterfowl and other birds from central Otago, New Zealand. J. Syst. Palaeontol. 5(1): 1-39. {{doi|10.1017/S1477201906001957}} (HTML abstract)
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