The elegant Marbled Duck is undoubtedly emblematic of Spain’s Mediterranean wetlands and a difficult species for birding trips. Fortunately, conservation programs are increasing their sightings in the wild.
The Marbled Duck (Marmaronetta angustirostris) is small, magnificently spotted, with a dark eye patch, black bill and wears the “Mc Gyver mullet cut”.
Identification is simple. Males and females are similar and usually silent. The species is omnivorous…
…feeding mainly on seeds of aquatic plants but also on invertebrates, collecting them on the surface. marbled ducks inhabit shallow freshwater or brackish wetlands with abundant emergent vegetation (lake sedge Schoenoplectus, chestnut Bolboschoenus, etc.).
Resident species – with peak activity in April – and one of the most endangered birds in the Mediterranean region. The world population is estimated at between 15,000 and 61,000 individuals, largely concentrated in the marshes of Iraq and Iran. Doñana and El Hondo (Alicante) are the two most important wetlands for the conservation of the species in Europe.
With a population of 60 pairs during the period 2014-2018 and a loss of more than 50% of its distribution in Spain.
The species fluctuates between 20 and 150 pairs (74 in 2020). As a result, the Marbled Duck is considered critically endangered in Spain (SEO/Birdlife). At the beginning of the 20th century it was considered the most abundant breeding anatidae in Doñana (!), but it declined inexorably, with strong oscillations depending on annual rainfall, and even disappeared as a breeding species in the Guadalquivir marshes during the 1990s.
Photos in freedom and in captivity…
A European Life project(https://www.cerceta-pardilla.es) is currently underway until 2025. In addition, the Cañada de los Pájaros started a breeding program in 2008. In Andalusia, Marbled Ducks were released in Doñana, Fuente de Piedra, Guadalhorce and some other locations.
Citizen science platforms demonstrate progress
We observed 86 teals in Dehesa Abajo during a recent visit to Doñana. The winter drought of 2023/2024 in Andalusia has favored groupings of up to 200 individuals. We then visited the program ex situ.
The collaborative website Observation.org reports a strong increase in observations during the years 2022 and 2023, especially in the wetlands of Doñana: Dehesa abajo, Centro Valverde, Brazo del Este, Veta La Palma and Tarelo.
Consultation links. The IUCN Red List (2022) Marmaronetta angustirostris ⚫ Salvador, Amat & Green (2023). Marbled Duck(Marmaronetta angustirostris. Birds of the World. Cornell Lab of Ornithology, https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.martea1.02 ⚫ Marbled Duck SEO/ Birdlife https://atlasaves.seo.org/ave/cerceta-pardilla/
Leave a Reply