The black-headed duck (Heteronetta atricapilla ) is a South American duck allied to the stiff-tailed ducks in the tribe Oxyurini of the family Anatidae. It is the only member of the genus Heteronetta.
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DiurnalDiurnal animals are active during the daytime, with a period of sleeping or other inactivity at night. The timing of activity by an animal depends ...
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FolivoreIn zoology, a folivore is a herbivore that specializes in eating leaves. Mature leaves contain a high proportion of hard-to-digest cellulose, less ...
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HerbivoreA herbivore is an animal anatomically and physiologically adapted to eating plant material, for example, foliage, for the main component of its die...
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TerrestrialTerrestrial animals are animals that live predominantly or entirely on land (e.g., cats, ants, snails), as compared with aquatic animals, which liv...
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CongregatoryCongregatory animals tend to gather in large numbers in specific areas as breeding colonies, for feeding, or for resting.
Oviparous animals are female animals that lay their eggs, with little or no other embryonic development within the mother. This is the reproductive...
Precocial species are those in which the young are relatively mature and mobile from the moment of birth or hatching. Precocial species are normall...
Waterfowl are certain wildfowl of the order Anseriformes, especially members of the family Anatidae, which includes ducks, geese, and swans. They ...
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PolygynandryPolygynandry is a mating system in which both males and females have multiple mating partners during a breeding season.
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PolygamyPolygamy is the practice of breeding with multiple partners. When a male breeds with more than one female at the same time – it is called polygyny....
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MigratingAnimal migration is the relatively long-distance movement of individual animals, usually on a seasonal basis. It is the most common form of migrati...
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starts withThis is the most basal living member of its subfamily, and it lacks the stiff tail and swollen bill of its relatives. Overall much resembling a fairly typical diving duck, its plumage and other peculiarities indicate it is not a very close relative of these, but rather the product of convergent evolution in the ancestors of the stiff-tailed ducks. It is a small, dark duck, the male with a black head and mantle and a paler flank and belly, and the female pale brown overall.
The black-headed duck is an obligate brood parasite, meaning the female does not build a nest. It lays its eggs in the nests of other birds, instead, earning it the nickname cuckoo duck. The hosts are particularly rosy-billed pochard (Netta peposaca ), other ducks, coots (Fulica species), and occasionally even gulls (such as the brown-hooded gull) and birds of prey. Unlike some cuckoos, neither the chicks nor adults destroy the eggs or kill the chicks of the host. Instead, after a 21-day incubation, the ducklings fledge and after a few hours are completely independent, leaving their broodmates and fending for themselves. In contrast with the brood parasitic passerines, whose young are altricial, black-headed duck ducklings are precocial.
The black-headed duck is not considered threatened by the IUCN.
Social animals are those animals that interact highly with other animals, usually of their own species (conspecifics), to the point of having a rec...