Indian Spot-billed Duck

Anas poecilorhyncha Forster, JR, 1781

55–63 cmLength69 cmWingspan1 kgWeight

This mainly gray duck has a paler head and neck, a black bill with a yellow tip, and a white stripe formed by the tertials along the side.

Busiest months: January–February · Most records: India, Cambodia, Thailand

Looks like Eastern Spot-billed Duck

Least Concern

How to identify

Field marks

Bill black with a yellow tip
White tertials form a single white stripe
Head pale, with dark crown and eyestripe
Throat and cheeks buff, legs and feet coral-red

Male, female and young

Female somewhat duller than male; juvenile browner and darker.

Voice

Both sexes have calls similar to those of Mallard.

Similar species

Eastern Spot-billed Duck

Eastern Spot-billed Duck is darker and browner, with a blue speculum rather than the green one of this species.

Where and when it's recorded

Indian Spot-billed Duck has been recorded at 285 of the 8,171 birding hotspots we track, in 13 countries and regions.

Records by month Northern Hemisphere

Where it's recorded most

Saul Kere / Sowl KereIndia4,139 records
Bharatpur – Keoladeo Ghana NPIndia4,030 records
Wildlife Institute of IndiaIndia3,054 records

More places

Changaram Wetlands – EzhupunnaIndia2,774 records
Okhla Bird SanctuaryIndia2,661 records
Hoskote / Hosakote KereIndia2,581 records
Krishnampathi Lake, SeeranaickenpalayamIndia2,426 records
Sultanpur National ParkIndia2,381 records
Vetal Tekdi/HillIndia2,349 records
Wildlife Institute of India (WII) – Nature Trail & LakeIndia2,090 records

Countries and regions with the most records

India Cambodia Thailand China Vietnam Myanmar (Burma)Nepal Bangladesh

eBird records via GBIF up to 2024-12-31. A record means someone listed it; more records partly mean more birders, not more birds.

About

The Indian spot-billed duck (Anas poecilorhyncha) is a species of large dabbling duck that is a non-migratory breeding duck throughout freshwater wetlands in the Indian subcontinent. The name is derived from the red spot at the base of the bill that is found in the mainland Indian population.

Excerpt from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0 · authors · Read more on Wikipedia

Questions

How big is the Indian Spot-billed Duck?

The Indian Spot-billed Duck is about 55–63 cm long, with a wingspan of 69 cm and weighs around 1 kg.

Where does the Indian Spot-billed Duck live?

Its breeding range: Oriental: southern, Southeast Asia from Pakistan, south to Sri Lanka, east to Laos and north to southwestern Yunnan. It is most often recorded in India, Cambodia and Thailand.