Description:

A large, heavy-bodied, bright orange-chestnut duck with whitish head, black bill and legs, and blackish rear body. Breeding male has black neck-collar. Female very similar to male, but lacks neck-collar and often has diffuse whitish face patch. Juvenile as female, but with browner and duller upperparts and underparts, and greyish tone to head.

Distribution:

Common passage migrant through major waterways and lakes in Gilgit-Baltistan, mainly western parts. Lands during cloudy/harsh weather, at lakes, marshes, rivers and streams with fringe vegetation up to 4000m, avoiding turbulent waters.

Behavior:

Forages mainly on water, but also on land. Grazes and plucks items on dry land and dabbles, swims and upends in deeper water. Feeds mainly on grasses, leaves, seeds and stems of plants and sedges, grain, shoots and vegetables; terrestrial and aquatic invertebrates, small fish and amphibians.

Photo Gallery:

Range & Occurrence:

Resident Species

Summer Breeder

Winter Visitor

Passage Migrant

Distribution Map of Ruddy Shelduck in Gilgit-Baltistan (Status: )

Seasonal Occurrence of Ruddy Shelduck

Resources:

Birds of Pakistan: Helm Field Guides (R. Grimmett & T. Inskipp)
The Birds of Pakistan (T. J. Roberts)
Birds of the Indian Subcontinent (C. Inskipp, R. Grimmett & T. Inskipp)
Birds of South Asia: The Ripley Guide (P. Rasmussen & J. Anderton)
Birds of India: Collins Field Guide (N. Arlott)
Handbook of the Birds of India and Pakistan (S. Ali & S. D. Ripley)
Handbook of the Birds of the World (https://www.hbw.com)
The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World, 6th Edition
iNaturalist BoGB (inaturalist.org/projects/birds-of-gilgit-baltistan)
Birds of Gilgit-Baltistan (http://fb.me/birdsgb)

*Gallery images on this page are shared from flickr.com, and are copyrighted to their respective creators or owners.