Editing Marbled duck

{{short description|Species of bird}}
{{Speciesbox
| name = Marbled duck
| status = NT
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| status_ref = <ref name="iucn">{{cite iucn |author= Birdlife international| |date=2022 |title=''Marmaronetta angustirostris'' |volume=2022 |page=e.T22680339A205917761 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2022-2.RLTS.T22680339A205917761.en |access-date=9 December 2022}}</ref>
| image = Marmaronetta angustirostris, London Wetland Centre, UK - Diliff.jpg
| genus = Marmaronetta
| parent_authority = [[Ludwig Reichenbach|Reichenbach]], 1853
| species = angustirostris
| authority = ([[Edouard Menetries|Ménétriés]], 1832)
}}

The '''marbled duck''' or '''marbled teal''' ('''''Marmaronetta angustirostris''''') is a medium-sized species of [[duck]] from southern Europe, northern Africa, and western and central [[Palearctic|Asia]].<ref name="iucn"/> The scientific name, ''Marmaronetta angustirostris'', comes from the [[Ancient Greek|Greek]] ''marmaros'', marbled and ''netta'', a duck, and [[Latin]] ''angustus'', narrow or small and ''-rostris'' [[beak|billed]].<ref name=DSBN/>

==Distribution, habitat and breeding==
[[File:Marmaronetta angustirostris MWNH 1005.JPG|left|thumb|Eggs, Collection [[Museum Wiesbaden]]]]

This duck formerly bred in large numbers in the Mediterranean region, but is now restricted to a few sites in southern Spain, southern Italy, northwest Africa and the broader [[Levant]]. Further east it survives in the [[Mesopotamian Marshes|Mesopotamian marshland]] in southern Iraq and in Iran ([[Shadegan]] Marshes - the world's most important site), as well as isolated pockets in [[Armenia]], [[Azerbaijan]], South [[European Russia]], western India and western China. In general the species has nomadic tendencies. In some areas birds disperse from the breeding grounds, and have been encountered in the winter period in the [[Sahel]] zone, south of the [[Sahara]].<ref name="iucn" />

Its preferred breeding habitat is temporary and shallow fresh, [[brackish]] or [[alkaline]] waters with densely vegetated shores in regions that otherwise are fairly dry. It may also breed in coastal lagoons, along slow rivers or man-made waters like reservoirs. The on average {{circa}} 12 eggs are placed in a nest covered by dense vegetation at the waters edge. It is usually on the ground, but occasionally higher among reeds or on huts made from reeds.<ref name="iucn" /> They are common in captive collections but are a nervous and flighty bird.

These are gregarious birds, at times even when nesting. Outside the breeding season flocks are often small, although large wintering flocks have been reported in some areas. The largest winter concentration known is in [[Khūzestān Province|Khuzestan]], Iran.<ref name=BWP/>

In 2011, a group of Iraqi ornithologists counted a single flock of the rare marbled teal on the lakes of the [[Mesopotamian Marshes|Iraqi marshes]], numbering at least 40,000 birds.<ref name=bbc/>

==Description and diet==
[[File:Marmaronetta angustirostris portrait.jpg|thumb|left|Close-up of head]]
The marbled duck is approximately {{convert|39|–|42|cm|in|abbr=on}} long. Adults are a pale sandy-brown colour, diffusely blotched off-white, with a dark eye-patch and shaggy head. The female averages smaller than the male, but otherwise the sexes are alike. Juveniles are similar but with more off-white blotches. In flight, the wings look pale without a marked pattern, and no [[Speculum feathers|speculum]] on the secondaries.<ref name=BWP/>

These birds feed mainly in shallow water by dabbling or up-ending.<ref name=BWP/> Adults feed mostly on seeds (for example, from ''[[Scirpus]]'' and ''[[Ruppia]]''), but also take significant quantities of invertebrates (especially aquatic insect larvae and pupae, tiny crustaceans, and—highly unusual for a duck—[[ant]]s) and green plants (for example, ''[[Potamogeton]]''). Their [[gizzard]] allows them to break down seeds and the [[Pecten (biology)|lamellae]] in their beak allow them to [[filter feed]] on [[zooplankton]]ic organisms. Young marbled ducks feed mostly on invertebrates. Although they may take tiny seeds, they lack the large gizzard necessary to break down the larger seeds commonly consumed by adults.<ref>{{cite journal | author1=Fuentes, C. | author2=M.I. Sánchez | author3=N. Selva | author4=A.J. Green | year=2004 | title=The diet of the Marbled Teal Marmaronetta angustirostris in southern Alicante, eastern Spain | journal=Revue d'Écologie (La Terre et la Vie) | volume=59 | issue=3 | pages=475–490 | doi=10.3406/revec.2004.1218 | url=https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-03530020/file/bitstream_113998.pdf }}</ref>

==Conservation==
This bird is considered near threatened by the [[IUCN]] due to a reduction in population caused by [[habitat destruction]] and hunting. It is one of the species to which the ''Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds'' ([[AEWA]]) applies.<ref name="iucn" />

==References==
{{Reflist|refs=
<ref name=bbc>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/earth/hi/earth_news/newsid_9364000/9364044.stm |work=BBC News |first=Matt |last=Walker |title=Restoring Iraq's wetland marshes to the original Eden |date=18 January 2011}}</ref>
<ref name=BWP>{{cite book |title=The Birds of the Western Palearctic [Abridged] |editor-first1=David William |editor-last1=Snow |editor-first2=Christopher |editor-last2=Perrins |year=1997 |publisher=[[OUP]] |isbn=0-19-854099-X}}</ref>
<ref name=DSBN>{{cite book |title=A Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names |last=Jobling |first=James A. |year=1991 |publisher=[[OUP]] |isbn=0-19-854634-3}}</ref>
}}

==External links==
*{{field guide birds of the world|Marmaronetta angustirostris}}
*{{ARKive}}
*{{BirdLife|22680339|Marmaronetta angustirostris}}
*{{Avibase|name=Marmaronetta angustirostris}}
*{{InternetBirdCollection|marbled-teal-marmaronetta-angustirostris|Marbled teal}}
*{{VIREO|Marbled+teal|Marbled teal}}
*{{IUCN_Map|22680339/205917761|Marmaronetta angustirostris}}
*{{Xeno-canto species|Marmaronetta|angustirostris|Marbled duck}}

{{Odontoanserae|B.|state=collapsed}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q331447}}

[[Category:Anatinae]]
[[Category:Ducks]]
[[Category:Birds of Europe]]
[[Category:Birds of North Africa]]
[[Category:Birds of Azerbaijan]]
[[Category:Birds of West Asia]]
[[Category:Birds of the Middle East]]
[[Category:Birds of Central Asia]]
[[Category:Birds of Pakistan]]
[[Category:Birds of West Africa]]
[[Category:Birds described in 1832]]