カモ
Eurasian teal / Anas crecca / Kogamo / コガモ 夏にシベリアで繁殖し、冬に奄美大島の沿岸の入り江や川、潟に渡る。カモの中でも小型で体長は34～38cm。成鳥のオスは、目から首の後ろにかけて青緑色から英名はEurasian tealと名付けられた。頭部は栗色で、身体は主に灰色と茶色の斑模様で、側面に白い横線が入り、くちばしと脚は黒い。植物食で主に藻類と水生植物を主食とする。越冬が終わるとつがいになり、共に繁殖地へ北上する。
Eastern spot-billed duck / Anas zonorhyncha / Karugamo / カルガモ カルガモは頻繁にみられる淡水のカモで、浅瀬の水面や水中で水生植物を食べる。このカモは一部渡るが、主に年中奄美大島の河口やマングローブ林、田んぼなどに生息している。秋と冬に繁殖するカルガモは、マガモほど色鮮やかではないが、くちばしの先端のオレンジや、オレンジの脚が濃い茶色い背中、淡い色の頭部、薄茶色の胸と腹に比べると目立つ。飛行中は翼の青い斑点が見える。主にペアか小さな群れで行動する。
Ducks
Eurasian teal / Anas crecca / Kogamo / コガモ
Eurasian teals breed in the summer in Siberia and migrate southward in winter, some of them to the coastal inlets, rivers, and lagoons of Amami-Oshima. One of the smallest ducks (34 to 38 centimeters long), this bird gets its name from the blue-green (teal) color of the patch on the adult male that runs from the eyes to the back of the neck. The head is maroon, while the body is mostly speckled gray and brown with a white stripe down the side. The bill and legs are black. The birds subsist on a plant diet of algae and aquatic plants. They pair at the end of wintering and travel north together to their breeding grounds.
Eastern spot-billed duck / Anas zonorhyncha / Karugamo / カルガモ
This is a very common dabbling duck, a term for a freshwater duck that feeds in shallow waters, both on the surface and by tipping headfirst into the water to graze on aquatic plants. These ducks are partially migratory but are generally resident year-round on Amami-Oshima, where they are found at river mouths, in rice paddies, and in mangroves. They breed in fall and winter. Though the eastern spot-billed duck is less colorful than the mallard, the orange tip of its bill and the orange legs stand out against the plain dark-brown back, pale head, and tan breast and belly. When the bird is in flight, a patch of blue is visible on its wings. It is usually seen in pairs or in small flocks.
