Common Shelduck
Tadorna tadorna
Gravanden er en andefugl, der dels findes udbredt i Nordvesteuropa og dels fra middelhavsområdet og videre østover gennem Centralasien. I Danmark er gravanden en ret almindelig ynglefugl med 2000-3000 par (2000), men var inden den blev totalfredet i 1922 temmelig sjælden.
Large, 55–65 cm, and shaped like a small short-necked goose. Mainly white with a dark green head and neck that look black at range, a broad chestnut band across the breast, a black belly stripe, black flight feathers and a red bill.
Plumage and variation
Male and female: The drake is most crisply marked in the breeding season, when the bill is bright red and carries a prominent knob at the base; the female is slightly smaller and usually shows white flecks on the green face.
Juvenile: Juvenile is greyish above and mostly white below, but already shows the adult wing pattern. Ducklings have a blackish-brown cap, hindneck and wing and back patches.
Voice
The call is a loud, goose-like honk.
Behaviour
Nests in holes — rabbit burrows, hollow trees, haystacks and the like — and also digs into banks or uses fox and rabbit tunnels. Feeds on tidal flats on small molluscs and crustaceans. Most pairs leave their part-grown young in crèches and gather in very large moulting flocks; up to 100,000 in the Wadden Sea. Adults fly away from the young to act as a decoy.
When and where
A fairly common Danish breeder with 2,000–3,000 pairs, though listed as vulnerable on the Danish Red List; it was rare before protection in 1922. Seen mainly on shallow coasts, mudflats and sandbars.
Facts
Wingspan
112 cm
Conservation status
ikke truet
Relatives
Family
ducks, geese and swans
Anatidae
Order
waterfowl
Anseriformes
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