Editing Bernier's teal

{{short description|Species of bird}}
{{speciesbox
 | name                = Bernier's teal
 | status              = EN
 | status_system       = IUCN3.1
 | status_ref          = <ref name="IUCN">{{cite iucn|author=BirdLife International |author-link=BirdLife International |year= 2022 |title= ''Anas bernieri'' |page= e.T22680252A196544442 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2022-2.RLTS.T22680252A196544442.en |access-date= 4 December 2023}}</ref>
| status2 = CITES_A2 
| status2_system = CITES 
| status2_ref = <ref>{{Cite web|title=Appendices {{!}} CITES|url=https://cites.org/eng/app/appendices.php|access-date=2022-01-14|website=cites.org}}</ref>
 | image               = Bernierente 050501.jpg
 | genus               = Anas
 | species             = bernieri
 | authority           = ([[Gustav Hartlaub|Hartlaub]], 1860)
 | range_map           = Madagascar Teal.png
 | range_map_caption   = Distribution of the Bernier's teal
 | synonyms            = ''Querquedula bernieri'' {{small|Hartlaub, 1860}}
}}

'''Bernier's teal''' ('''''Anas bernieri'''''), also known as the '''Madagascar teal''', is a species of [[duck]] in the genus ''Anas''. It is [[endemic]] to [[Madagascar]], where it is found only along the west coast. Part of the "grey teal" complex found throughout [[Australasia]], it is most closely related to the [[Andaman teal]].
 
==Taxonomy==
[[File:Bernier's Teal RWD.jpg|left|thumb|At Sylvan Heights Waterfowl Park, North Carolina]]
The Bernier's teal was first [[Species description|described]] by the German ornithologist [[Gustav Hartlaub]] in 1860 under the [[binomial name]] ''Querquedula bernieri''.<ref>{{ cite journal | last=Hartlaub | first=Gustav | author-link=Gustav Hartlaub | year=1860 | title=Systematische Uebersicht der Vögel Madagascars | journal=Journal für Ornithologie |  language=German, Latin | volume=8 | issue=45 | pages=161–180 [173–174] | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/32706981 | doi=10.1007/bf02015735| bibcode=1860JOrni...8..161H | s2cid=40507234 }}</ref><ref>{{ cite book | editor1-last=Mayr | editor1-first=Ernst | editor1-link=Ernst Mayr | editor2-last=Cottrell | editor2-first=G. William | year=1979 | title=Check-list of Birds of the World | volume=1 | edition=2nd | publisher=Museum of Comparative Zoology | place=Cambridge, Massachusetts | page=467 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/16109107 }}</ref> It is one of many [[dabbling duck]]s in the genus ''[[Anas]]''.<ref name="ITIS"/> It is one of the "grey teals", a group of related ducks found across Australasia. [[DNA]] studies suggest that it may have been a [[sister species]] with [[Sauzier's teal]] (which was found on the nearby islands of [[Mauritius]] and [[Réunion]] until it became extinct). Studies further suggest that its closest living relative is the [[Andaman teal]], and confirm that it is related to the [[gray teal]].<ref name = "Oxford"/> There are no subspecies.<ref name="Monroe"/>

The duck's [[common name|common]] and [[specific name (zoology)|species names]] both commemorate [[Chevalier Bernier]], a French [[ship's doctor|naval surgeon]] and [[naturalist]] who collected nearly 200 specimens of various species while stationed in Madagascar.<ref name = "Beolens"/> The genus name ''Anas'' is a [[Latin]] word meaning "duck".<ref name="Jobling"/>

== Description ==
This is a small duck, measuring {{convert|40|to|45|cm|in|abbr=on}} in length,<ref name="Morris"/>{{#tag:ref|By convention, length is measured from the tip of the bill to the tip of the tail on a dead bird (or skin) laid on its back.<ref>{{cite book|title=Handbook of the Birds of Europe, the Middle East and North Africa: [[Birds of the Western Palearctic]], Volume 1, Ostrich to Ducks |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=1977 |isbn=978-0-19-857358-6 |editor=Cramp, Stanley |page=3}}</ref>|group="nb"}} and ranging from {{convert|320|to|405|g|oz}} in mass; males average slightly heavier than females.<ref name = "CRC"/> Adult and immature birds of both sexes look the same, though males are slightly larger than females. The plumage is predominantly warm brown. The [[beak|bill]] is reddish, and the legs and feet are a dull reddish-orange.<ref name="Morris"/>

==Range and habitat==
Bernier's teal is endemic to the island of Madagascar, where it is found in [[mangrove]] forests. It rarely leaves this habitat, where it favors open shallow ponds and lakes, mostly brackish. Its range encompasses the whole of the west coast and the extreme north-east. It is known to breed at a few sites, central and north-west coasts.<ref name="IUCN"/> Subfossil evidence from the [[Holocene]] period shows that the teal formerly had a much wider distribution across the island.<ref name="Goodman"/>

== Behaviour ==

===Voice===
The male Bernier's teal whistles, while the female's call is described as "a croaking ''quak''".<ref name = "Morris"/>

===Diet and feeding===
Bernier's teal typically spends much of its day actively feeding. It wades at the edge of shallow water, filtering mud and dabbling at the water's surface.<ref name = "Morris"/> It feeds on invertebrates, plant materials, and insects.

===Breeding===
All known [[bird nest|nests]] of wild Bernier's teal have been found either above or close to water in [[Avicennia marina|grey mangrove]] trees, in holes {{cvt|1|–|3|m|ft}} above the water's surface. In captivity, the species will also use [[nest boxes]]. The birds add no materials to the nest. Instead, the female lays her eggs directly on floor of the cavity, covering them initially with wood shavings or rotting bits of wood and later with [[down feather]]s from her own breast. In captivity, [[Clutch (eggs)|clutch sizes]] varied from 3 to 9, with an average of 6.75 eggs per female. The eggs are pale buff in colour, smooth and elliptical in shape, measuring {{cvt|46|x|34.6|mm|in}} on average. This is smaller than the eggs of any of the other "grey teals". Only the female [[egg incubation|incubates]] the eggs.<ref name="Young"/>

== Conservation status ==
Bernier's teal is on the verge of [[extinction]]. There are only about 1500 left in the world. The reason these ducks are on the verge of extinction is because their natural habitat, [[mangrove forest]]s, are being destroyed for [[timber]] and [[fuel]], and to expand cultivation. Hunting for food is also a threat.<ref name="Rarest"/>

The species is now held in [[wildfowl]] collections throughout the world, and several captive breeding programs exist. The [[Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust]] on [[Jersey]], for example, has reared nearly 100 since starting their breeding program in 1995.<ref name="Durrell"/> In the US, [[Sylvan Heights Bird Park]] in North Carolina and the [[Louisville Zoo]] in Kentucky have both successfully fledged ducklings.<ref name = "Sylvan"/><ref name = "Louisville"/>

==Note==
<references group="nb"/>

==References==
{{Reflist | refs =
<ref name = "Beolens">{{cite book |title= The Eponym Dictionary of Birds |first1=Bo|last1=Beolens |first2=Michael|last2=Watkins |first3=Michael|last3=Grayson |year=2014 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |isbn=978-1-4729-0574-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=En4wBAAAQBAJ&pg=PT144}}</ref>
<ref name="CRC">{{cite book |title=CRC Handbook of Avian Body Masses |editor-first=John Barnard |editor-last=Dunning Jr. |publisher=CRC Press |location=Boca Raton, FL |year=2008 |edition=2nd |isbn=978-1-4200-6444-5 |page=41 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TcnOTPILlcEC&pg=PA41}}</ref>
<ref name ="Durrell">{{cite web |url=http://www.durrell.org/Animals/Birds/Madagascar-teal/ |title=Madagascar Teal |publisher=Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust |access-date=25 September 2014 |archive-date=2 October 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111002022447/http://www.durrell.org/Animals/Birds/Madagascar-teal/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>
<ref name="Goodman">{{cite web |last=Goodman |first=S.M. |year=1999 |title=Holocene bird subfossils from the sites of Ampasambazimba, Antsirabe and Ampoza, Madagascar:Changes in the avifauna of south central Madagascar over the past few millennia |editor-last=Adams |editor-first=N.J. |editor2-last=Slotow |editor2-first=R.H. |work=Proceedings of the 22nd International Ornithological Congress, Durban |pages=3071–3083 |location=Johannesburg, South Africa |publisher=BirdLife South Africa |url=http://www.int-ornith-union.org/files/proceedings/durban/Symposium/S50/S50.4.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140519023113/http://www.int-ornith-union.org/files/proceedings/durban/Symposium/S50/S50.4.htm |archive-date=2014-05-19 }}</ref>
<ref name="ITIS">{{ITIS |id=175098 |taxon=Anas bernieri |access-date=25 September 2014}}</ref>
<ref name="Jobling">{{cite book |title = The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Names |url = https://archive.org/details/Helm_Dictionary_of_Scientific_Bird_Names_by_James_A._Jobling |first = James A.|last = Jobling |year = 2010 |location = London, UK
|publisher = Christopher Helm |isbn = 978-1-4081-2501-4 |page=[https://archive.org/details/Helm_Dictionary_of_Scientific_Bird_Names_by_James_A._Jobling/page/n46 46]}}</ref>
<ref name="Louisville">{{cite web | title = Zoo's rare duckling not in danger of being found ugly | url = http://www.worldzootoday.com/2009/06/18/zoos-rare-duckling-not-in-danger-of-being-found-ugly/ | archive-url = https://archive.today/20140926185550/http://www.worldzootoday.com/2009/06/18/zoos-rare-duckling-not-in-danger-of-being-found-ugly/ | url-status = dead | archive-date = 26 September 2014 | first = Kelly | last = House | date = 19 June 2009 | publisher = [[Courier Journal]] | access-date = 26 September 2014 }}</ref>
<ref name="Monroe">{{cite book |title=A World Checklist of Birds |first=Burt L. |last=Monroe |year=1997 |publisher=Yale University Press |location=New Haven, CT, US |page=17 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3M7f_Y2zWDwC&pg=PA17 |isbn=978-0-300-07083-5 }}</ref>
<ref name="Morris">{{cite book |title=Birds of Madagascar: A Photographic Guide |first1=Pete|last1=Morris |first2=Frank|last2=Hawkins |year=1998 |publisher=Pica Press |location=Mountfield, UK |page=84| isbn=978-1-873403-45-7}}</ref>
<ref name = "Oxford">{{cite book |title = Ducks, Geese and Swans: Species accounts (''Cairina'' to ''Mergus'') |editor-first=Janet |editor-last=Kear |year=2005 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford, UK |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=D2K-9k-_EFcC&pg=PA452 |page=452 |isbn=978-0-19-861009-0 }}</ref> 
<ref name = "Rarest">{{cite book |title=The World's Rarest Birds |year=2013 |first1=Erik|last1=Hirschfeld|first2=Andy|last2=Swash|first3=Robert|last3=Still |publisher=Princeton University Press |location=Princeton, NJ, US |isbn=978-1-4008-4490-6 |page=74 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9SgihM8_5RYC&pg=PA74}}</ref>
<ref name = "Sylvan">{{cite web |title = Madagascar Teal Breeding Program  |url = http://shwpark.com/plan-a-visit/our-events/80-breeding-center/breeding-center/89-madagascar-teal-breeding-program.html | access-date = 26 September 2014 | publisher = Sylvan Heights Bird Park}}</ref>
<ref name="Young">{{cite journal |title=A description of the nest and eggs of the Madagascar Teal ''Anas bernieri''  |journal=Bull. B.O.C. |year=2001 |volume=121|issue=1 |url=http://biostor.org/reference/111870.text |first1=H. Glyn|last1=Young |first2=Richard E.|last2=Lewis|first3=Felix|last3=Razafindrajao |pages=64–67}}</ref>
}}

== External links ==
{{Commons}}
{{Wikispecies|Anas bernieri}}
*[http://www.birdlife.org/datazone/search/species_search.html?action=SpcHTMDetails.asp&sid=449&m=0 BirdLife Species Factsheet]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20110102035950/http://www.livingrainforest.org/about-rainforests/disappearing-ducks-madagascar-teal/ Madagascar teal - The Living Rainforest]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20081029092311/http://www.arkive.org/madagascar-teal/anas-bernieri/ Madagascar teal - ARKive]
*[http://www.planetofbirds.com/anseriformes-anatidae-berniers-teal-anas-bernieri- Planet of Birds]

{{Taxonbar|from=Q290199}}

[[Category:Anas|Bernier's teal]]
[[Category:Endemic birds of Madagascar]]
[[Category:Birds described in 1860|Bernier's teal]]