Muscovy Ducks. Fauna Cuiabana. Cuiaba Basin Fauna Project (CBFP) Pages

This is the week when the Project which forms the basis of these pages was submitted.  As it happens, it doesn't mark the end of this series of pages.  Last weekend I was in the Pantanal in a city called Santo Antônio de Leverger.  I saw plenty of wildlife.  Also, today the supervisor of my Project wants me to continue the research.  So although the Project has now been submitted, the research goes on.

Here is the taxonomic classification of the Muscovy Duck

• Kingdom Animalia
• Phylum Chordata
• Class Aves
• Order Anseriformes - the wildfowl.
• Family Anatidae
• Genus Cairina
• Species Cairina moschata

In Portuguese the species is called Pato-do-Mato, the Forest Duck.

They are very visible and common.  Although I haven't consulted the Red List, I am a Conservation Biologist so can speak from hours of experience in the field. They are huge, heavy birds.  My companions and I saw a male take off and it needed a runway of several metres.

 They gave rise to the domestic duck of South América, according to Helmut Sick in his book Brazilian Ornithology.