Oxyura vittata
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
In 3 days <5% in a week ~10%
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 Santiago on a given day, based on 44 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 74th most-seen of the 110 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to under 5%, and over a week to about 10%, if each day is a fresh chance.
Any time of year
In every month with enough records, under 5% of wildlife watchers report an Argentine Blue-bill in Santiago on a given day, so our monthly data shows no clear season.
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.
4th of 4
Of the 4 cities where we can rate Argentine Blue-bill sightings, Santiago ranks 4th at under 5%. The best odds are in Buenos Aires (Argentina, about 10%), Montevideo (Uruguay, under 5%) and Cordoba (Argentina, under 5%).
Same family: Anatidae
The closest relatives of the Argentine Blue-bill that you can see in Santiago (family Anatidae, Ducks, Geese, and Swans) are Yellow-billed Pintail (about 10%), Speckled Teal (about 10%) and White-cheeked Pintail (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Argentine Blue-bill is recorded against all the birds logged in Santiago (44 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.
