THE STIFF-TAILED DUCK

 

The stiff-tailed ducks, the genus Oxyura, are part of the Oxyurini tribe of ducks.

All have, as their name implies, long, stiff tail feathers, which are erected when the bird is resting. All have relatively large, swollen bills. These are freshwater diving ducks. Their legs are set far back, which makes them awkward on land, so they rarely leave the water.

Their uncommon displays involve drumming noises from inflatable throat sacs, head throwing, and erecting short crests. Plumage sequences are complicated, and aging difficult.^{[citation needed]} Plumage is vital for survival because of this animal's tendency to spend time in the water.^{[citation needed]}

  Male white-headed duck, Oxyura leucocephala

Taxonomy

 

 

The genus Oxyura was introduced (as a subgenus) in 1828 by the French naturalist Charles Lucien Bonaparte to accommodate a single taxon, Anas rubidus Wilson, 1814. This is now considered to be a synonym of Anas jamaicensis Gmelin 1789, the ruddy duck.^[1][2] The genus name is derived from Ancient Greek oxus, meaning "sharp", and oura meaning "tail".^[3]

The six extant members of this genus are distributed widely throughout North America, South America, Australia, Asia, and much of Africa.^[4]

 

Species

Image	Scientific name	Common Name	Distribution
	O. australis	Blue-billed duck	Australia
	O. jamaicensis	Ruddy duck	North and South America (+ British Isles,[5] France, & Spain (introduced))
	O. ferruginea	Andean duck	Andes Mountains of South America
	O. leucocephala	White-headed duck	Spain, North Africa, and western and central Asia
	O. maccoa	Maccoa duck	eastern Africa from Sudan and Ethiopia to Tanzania and west to eastern Zaire, and southern Africa from Zimbabwe to Cape Province, South Africa
	O. vittata	Lake duck	central Chile, Argentina and southern Uruguay

A fossil species from the Late Pliocene or Early Pleistocene of Jalisco (Mexico) was described as Oxyura zapatanima. It resembled a small ruddy duck or, even more, an Argentine blue-bill. A larger Middle Pleistocene fossil form from the southwestern United States was described as Oxyura bessomi; it was probably quite close to the ruddy duck.

"Oxyura" doksana from the Early Miocene of Dolnice (Czech Republic) cannot be assigned to any anatine subfamily with certainty.^[6]

 

 

 

 

 

 

  Oxyura vittata

  Oxyura ferruginea

  Oxyura maccoa

  Oxyura leucocephala

  Oxyura jamaicensis

  Oxyura australis