Maned Duck

dahgalah (Bundjalung name)

Chenonetta jubata

Songs & Calls

The most common call is a loud, rising croaky gnow sound by the females, and the male call is the same except smoother, shorter and higher than the females. Staccato chattering is also present in flocks.

Local Notes

The Wood Duck stands alone— the only Chenonetta, neither goose nor duck, but something in between. It teaches its young to fall before they learn to fly. So too, the children of Nimbin: born to counterculture and chaos, feathered in difference, held aloft by generational wisdom. We fall often. But we rise— not despite our place, but because of it.

by Wil Polson

This 45–51 cm duck looks like a small goose, and mostly feeds by grazing in flocks.

The male is grey with a dark brown head, mottled breast and very thin white and black stripes on sides/flanks. The female has white stripes above and below the eye and mottled underparts. Both sexes have grey wings with black primaries and a white speculum. Juveniles are similar to adult females, but lighter and with a more streaky breast.