BLACK-HEADED DUCK 



HETERONETTA ATRICAPILLA (Merrem) 



(Plate 53) 



Synonymy 



Anas melanocephala Vieillot (nee Gmelin), Nouv. Diet, des Sci. Nat., vol. 5, p. 163, 



1816. 

 Anas atricapilla Merrem, in Ersch and Grube's Encyclop., sect. 1, vol. 35, p. 26, 



1841. 

 Anas nigriceps Lichtenstein, Nomenclator Avium, p. 101, 1854. 

 Heteronetta melanocephala Salvadori, Atti Soc. Ital. Sci. Nat. Milano, vol. 8, p. 574, 



1865. 

 Fuligula melanocephala Schlegel, Mus. Pays-Bas, Anseres, p. 32, 1866. 

 Nyroca melanocephala Eyton, Synopsis Anatidae, p. 118, 1869. 



Vernacular Names 

 English: Black-headed Duck. 

 German: Schwarzkopf ente. 

 French: Canard a tete noire. 

 Spanish: Pato cabeza negra, Pato rinconero, Pato de color pardo. 



DESCRIPTION 



Adult Male: Whole of head and upper part of neck black, except the chin which is usually, but not 

 always, white. Whole upper surface black, minutely freckled with rufous. Upper breast brownish; 

 all the rest of the lower surface silvery white, with brown showing through. Sides, flanks, and under 

 tail-coverts rusty brown, vermiculated with black. Speculum absent, and this area the same color 

 as the rest of wing, but outlined by an anterior and a posterior white wing-bar. Primaries black- 

 ish; tail blackish, freckled more or less with rufous. Under wing-coverts white, except the greater 

 which are gray. Axillars white. 



Bill blackish according to Sclater, with a basal spot on each side flesh-color. Feet horny-brown. 



Wing 160-176 mm.; bill 46; tarsus 33. 



Adult Female: Very similar to the male, but the head, except the crown, less black. Cheeks freckled. 

 There is a post-orbital light-colored stripe, sometimes prolonged to in front of the eye. Chin and 

 throat dirty white. Remainder of upper and lower surface very similar to the male. 



Iris "wood-brown." The upper mandible, according to Durnford, is dark brown with a tinge of 

 yellowish red at the base. The legs and feet are pale slate and the webs darker. Size about the same 

 as the male as nearly as I can see from the thirteen specimens which I have measured. 



Immature Male: Like the female. The top of the head and the cheeks are apparently the first to 

 become black, followed by changes to darker coloring on the chin and upper throat. 



Downy Young: No information. 



