shelduck

Duck Tadorna tadorna of family Anatidae, order Anseriformes. It has a dark-green head and red bill, with the rest of the plumage strikingly marked in black, white, and chestnut. The drake is about 60 cm/24 in long. Widely distributed in Europe and Asia, it lays 10-12 white eggs in rabbit burrows on sandy coasts, and is usually seen on estuary mudflats.