The Wildebeest's guide to South Africa
South African Shelduck
Afrikaans name: Kopereend
A male South African Shelduck
Photo © Steven Herbert
Tadorna cana
The South African Shelduck is found throughout most of South Africa but it is particularly common in the south-west.
Males South African Shelducks are orange-brown in colour with a grey head. Females are similar but their faces are white.
These birds feed on a variety of foods including grain, aquatic invertebrates and algae.
Females make their nests in existing holes such as disused Aardvark burrows. She can lay up to 15 eggs but it is normally around 7 to 11. Both parents tend to the eggs and chicks.
References and further reading
A First Guide to South African Birds - 7th Edition - Author: Leonard Gill - Year Published: 1975 - Page: 168Birds of the South Western Cape - Author: Joy Frandsen - Year Published: - Page: 37
Collins Illustrated Checklist - Birds of Southern Africa - 1st edition - Author: Ber van Perlo - Year Published: 1999 - Page: 11
Reader's Digest Illustrated Guide to the Game Parks and Nature Reserves of Southern Africa - 2nd edi - Author: Editor - Alan Duggan - Year Published: 1991 - Page: 408
Roberts' Birds of Southern Africa - 5th Edition - Author: Gordon Lindsay Maclean - Year Published: 1985 - Page: 83
Roberts' Birds of Southern Africa - 6th Edition - Author: Gordon Lindsay Maclean - Year Published: 1993 - Page: 84
Sasol Birds of Southern Africa - 4th Edition - Author: Ian Sinclair et al. - Year Published: 2011 - Page: 76