Designed by Paul Smith 2006. This website is copyrighted by law.
Material contained herewith may not be used without the prior written permission of FAUNA Paraguay.
Photographs on this page were taken by Paul Smith and Hemme Batjes and are used with their permission.
SPECKLED TEAL Anas flavirostris
In late July 2006 the FAUNA Paraguay mini-guide volunteer team was returning from their project at PN Tte Enciso when we decided to stop off en route at Campo Maria to see if we could contribute some data to the Neotropical Waterbird Census (there wasn´t much in the way of water at Enciso!). And we were very glad that we did!! Hemme Batjes, one of our volunteers, spotted this duck (FPAVE288PH) on the far side of the lagoon, and having been a regular volunteer in Paraguay he knew that a duck with a yellow bill in Paraguay was something special - it was a Speckled Teal! This species was previously known only from a handful of unconfirmed reports and was considered "pending" on the Paraguayan list - ie pending some kind of proof that it occurs in Paraguay. Though light was poor and the bird was a good distance away, Hemme managed to get this shot through his scope which shows all the diagnostic features of the species and add another species to the official Paraguay list! Speckled Teal is a common duck further south in the southern cone of South America, but it seems that it is a regular vagrant or rare migrant to Paraguay. (FPAVE289PH)  is a clearer photo of a bird from Argentina to help you identify the bird if you see it yourself!
Click on the images to enlarge them.
FIGURE 1 - (FPAVE288PH) Adult, Campo María Private Nature Reserve, Cuenca Upper Yacaré Sur (Hemme Batjes July 2006). Photo confirmation of the species presence in Paraguay.
FIGURE 2 - (FPAVE289PH) Adult, Buenos Aires Zoological Gardens, Argentina (Paul Smith November 2006).
FIGURE 1

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 2

FIGURE 2