Common Shelduck

The common shelduck is a goose-like waterfowl 55–65 cm long with a wingspan of 100–120 cm. It has a dark green head and neck, a reddish-pink bill, pink feet, and a white body with chestnut patches and a black belly. The wing coverts are white and the primaries black, and the secondaries show strong green iridescence in flight. It first breeds at about two years old, and the oldest recorded bird was just short of 20 years (Wikipedia, general species account).

It is widespread and common in the Palearctic, breeding on temperate coasts, saline pools and estuaries, and in Asia on inland salt lakes, and increasingly on open freshwater inland; it often nests in rabbit burrows. Asian populations migrate to subtropical areas in winter, south to northern India and southern China. Its call is a loud honk. SoIB 2023 lists it as a winter migrant of wetlands that eats invertebrates but assigns no priority category (Wikipedia, general species account; SoIB 2023).