Micke Grove Zoo

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Marbled Teal
Marmaronetta angustirostris

  • Habitat: Wetlands, brackish waters rich in vegetation.
  • Range: Fragmented distribution; eastern and western Mediterranean region, north and sub-Saharan west Africa, Iran, Pakistan and northwest India.
  • Natural Diet: Aquatic plants (seeds, roots, tubers, green parts); also aquatic insects, larvae, mollusks, worms.
  • Status in the Wild: THREATENED

 

Fun Facts

  • Marbled teal are sandy-brown in color with white blotches that give them a marbled appearance

  • They are medium-sized dabbling ducks and they live in wetlands and marshlands in the Mediterranean region

  • This species is gregarious even during breeding season when flocks of teal build nests close to one another.

  • Females are dull colored which helps them camouflage from predators. They lay 7 to 10 eggs in a clutch.

  • They are excellent swimmers and divers

 

Conservation Threats

  • It has been recorded that 50% of their habitat may have been destroyed in this century.

  • Hydrological work and wetland drainage is known to have had a detrimental effect on several breeding sites in their distibutional range.

  • Marbled teal population numbers have also depleted due to illegal hunting.

Marbled Teal Marbled teal have bred successfully at Micke Grove Zoo

 

 

These ducks have a marbled pattern that helps them camouflage hiding them from their predators

 

 

 

Map Distributional range - The species are found in several small population in Europe, Asia, and northern African