Oxyura vittata
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~30%
The lake duck (Oxyura vittata) is a small, South American stiff-tailed duck. It is also called the Argentine blue-bill, Argentine blue-billed duck, Argentine lake duck, or Argentine ruddy duck. The lake duck grows to 36–46 centimetres (14–18 in). Females weigh 510–700 grams (18–25 oz) and males 600–850 grams (21–30 oz). Males can be distinguished from Andean duck (Oxyura ferruginea), a similar species, by being smaller and having a flatter head.
The lake duck holds the Guinness World Record for having the largest avian reproductive organ, from a specimen in Córdoba, Argentina that had a penis measuring 42.5 centimetres (16.7 in). It also has the longest penis of any vertebrate in relation to body length. The penis, which is typically coiled up in flaccid state, can reach about the same length as the animal itself when fully erect, but more commonly is about half the bird's length. It has a soft tip and spiny base. It is theorized that the size of their spiny penises with bristled tips may have evolved in response to competitive pressure in these highly promiscuous birds, removing sperm from previous matings in the manner of a bottle brush.
Although most... Wikipedia →
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Argentina · 2008
© Bernabe Lopez-Lanus · XC44471 · CC BY-NC-SA 3.0
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Torres del Paine National Park | 🇨🇱 Chile |
More parks will be added in future updates.
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Buenos Aires | 🇦🇷 Argentina | |
| 2 | Montevideo | 🇺🇾 Uruguay | |
| 3 | Cordoba | 🇦🇷 Argentina | |
| 4 | Santiago | 🇨🇱 Chile |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dresden Zoo | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 2 | Parc des oiseaux | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 3 | Sedgwick County Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Oklahoma City Zoo and Botanical Garden | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | Franklin Park Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 6 | Houston Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 7 | Cologne Zoological Garden | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 8 | Heidelberg Zoo | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 9 | Zoologischer Garten Halle | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 10 | Cologne Zoo Aquarium | 🇩🇪 Germany |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report an Argentine Blue-bill sighting in Montevideo on a given day, based on 99 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 80th most-seen of the 178 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 30%, if each day is a fresh chance.
February–April and June
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report an Argentine Blue-bill in Montevideo on a given day, against under 5% in May and July–January, the lowest months.
Between 9 am and noon
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Argentine Blue-bill sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
2nd of 4
Of the 4 cities where we can rate Argentine Blue-bill sightings, Montevideo ranks 2nd at under 5%. The best odds are in Buenos Aires (Argentina, about 10%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Argentine Blue-bill is recorded against all the birds logged in Montevideo (99 verified sightings), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
