Knob-billed Duck

How to identify

Field marks

1. Male has a single large black knob on the bill
2. Adult has a white head densely covered with dark spots
3. Breast white or pale yellowish-brown, body sides gray
4. Adult has blue-black upperparts with a blue-green metallic gloss

Male, female and young

Male much larger than female, with a large black knob on the bill; juvenile has a dark yellowish-brown face, neck and underparts, and dark brown upperparts.

Voice

Usually silent, giving a low croak only when flushed.

Similar species

Cotton Pygmy Goose

Immature resembles an enlarged, gray female Cotton Pygmy Goose, and is difficult to identify without other birds for comparison; however, immatures are usually accompanied by adults.

Where and when it's recorded

Knob-billed Duck has been recorded at 478 of the 8,171 birding hotspots we track, in 40 countries and regions.

Records by month Northern Hemisphere

Where it's recorded most

1. Bharatpur – Keoladeo Ghana NPIndia2,357 records
2. Sultanpur National ParkIndia1,395 records
3. Thol Bird SanctuaryIndia980 records

Countries and regions with the most records

IndiaSouth AfricaTanzaniaCambodiaKenyaMadagascarBotswanaZambia

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 knob-billed duck (Sarkidiornis melanotos) or African comb duck is a type of duck found along the tropical/sub-tropical wetlands and waterways of Sub-Saharan Africa and the island of Madagascar, as well as most of South Asia and mainland Indochina.

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

Questions