BREEDING BY BLUE-BILLED DUCK (OXYURA AUSTRALIS) AND FRECKLED DUCK (STICTONETTA NAE VOSA) IN THE GEORGINA CHANNEL COUNTRY, APRIL 2009

摘要

We report observations of breeding by the Blue-billed Duck (Oxyura australis) and Freckled Duck (Stictonetta naevosd) in shrub swamps of the Eyre Creek (lower Georgina River) floodplain, Channel Country bioregion, in April 2009. At least five broods of Blue-billed Duck and a brood of Freckled Duck were seen. Based on sizes of ducklings we estimate that the clutches may have been laid a few weeks after the summer flood peaks. There have been few other records of breeding by either species in this bioregion. The records reconfirm the great importance of Channel Country wetlands for biodiversity conservation and the need for maintenance of natural flooding regimes.