Common shelduck
Amazing fact
A male common shelduck's bill has a knob at its base that grows larger in the breeding season.
多摩動物公園
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An illustration based on the real animal.
A little discovery to share.
A male common shelduck's bill has a knob at its base that grows larger in the breeding season.
THE REAL WORLD
The real Common shelduck
- Scientific name
- Tadorna tadorna
- Japanese name
- ツクシガモ
- Group
- Birds
- Class
- Aves
- Order
- Anseriformes
- Family
- Anatidae
- Genus
- Tadorna
Its head and neck are black with a green sheen, its body is mostly white with a brown band across the chest, and its bill and legs are red.
It makes its nest of grass, moss, and feathers inside tree hollows or rabbit burrows.
It lives on seashores, tidal flats, and river mouths, and eats water animals without backbones, algae, and small fish.
How the Common shelduck lives
They use an upturned bill to find and eat food in tidal-flat mud. Breeding begins in spring.
多摩動物公園Basic data
- Size
- Total length: 61–63 cm
- Weight
- 800–1,450 g
- Diet
- Aquatic invertebrates, algae, and small fish
- Range
- Europe, central Eurasia, and southern Europe
- Conservation status in Japan
- Data Deficient (DD)Ministry of the Environment of Japan, 5th Red List (2026)
Where the Common shelduck has been recorded
Records: GBIF.org (CC0 and CC BY 4.0 records, retrieved 2026-11-07). Map: Natural EarthSee the records on GBIF
Watch wild animals from a distance. Do not touch or feed them, and take care of the places where they live.
Names around the world
- 日本語
- ツクシガモ
- 简体中文
- 翘鼻麻鸭
- 繁體中文
- 花鳧
- 한국어
- 혹부리오리
- Español
- Tarro blanco
- Français
- Tadorne de Belon
- Deutsch
- Brandgans
- Português (Brasil)
- Pato-branco
- Italiano
- Volpoca
- हिन्दी
- शाह चकवा
- العربية
- شهرمان مألوف
- Bahasa Indonesia
- Umukia biasa
- Русский
- Пеганка
- Türkçe
- Suna
- ไทย
- เป็ดเชลดัก
- বাংলা
- শাহ চখা
Names come from Wikidata and iNaturalist records. Where a language has no recorded name, we use the scientific name.
Sources and how we check
- 多摩動物公園 — ツクシガモChecked: 2026-11-03
- Ministry of the Environment of Japan, 5th Red List (2026)Checked: 2026-11-07
We check each fact against its source. The illustrations simplify how the real animal looks.
The classification (class, order, family, genus) follows Wikidata records, checked against GBIF. Classifications can change as research goes on.
The basic data are the values given in each source. They vary with how the animal is measured, whether it is male or female, and whether it lives in the wild or in captivity.
The conservation status in Japan is the category in the Red Lists of the Ministry of the Environment of Japan, which assess the risk of extinction for wild animals in Japan.
This page was translated from the original Japanese with the help of AI.
Report a mistakeWhen you meet the Common shelduck, look for this
- Look for the black markings at the tips of the wings.
Animals do different things from day to day, so you may not always see this.
多摩動物公園EXHIBIT INFORMATION
Places that keep or show the Common shelduck
Zoos, aquariums and other places whose official websites say they keep or show this animal.
Kanto
Displays can change with the animals’ health and the seasons. Check each facility’s official website before you go.
RELATIVES
Others in Anatidae
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