Australian Shelduck (Tadorna tadornoides)
About the Australian Shelduck
The Australian shelduck (Tadorna tadornoides), also known as the chestnut-breasted shelduck or mountain duck, is a shelduck, a group of large goose-like ducks part of the bird family Anatidae. The genus name Tadorna comes from Celtic roots and means "pied waterfowl". They have a striking chestnut-coloured breast and black body. They are protected under the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1974. William Jardine and Prideaux John Selby described the Australian shelduck in 1828. The males are mostly dark, with a chestnut breast. They have white neck collars and dark green heads. The females are similar, but they have white around the eyes and are smaller. Both males and females have chestnut and black wings with a green speculum, and show some white on their wings during flight.
No audio on this page yet
We only publish recordings we may use commercially, because this site is supported by ads. xeno-canto lists 18 recordings for this species: 10 CC BY-NC-SA · 8 CC BY-NC-ND. None of them permits commercial use, so there is no player here — the page is kept as a profile so the bird is not missing from the guide.
As soon as someone uploads a freely licensed recording, we mirror it and the player appears here.
Listed as recorded in Australia in the xeno-canto catalogue.
Related species you can hear
- Common ShelduckTadorna tadornarecording
- Paradise ShelduckTadorna variegatarecording
- Ruddy ShelduckTadorna ferruginearecording
This species has no recording here yet — these relatives do, so you can hear what the family sounds like.