Black-headed duck
Heteronetta atricapilla (Merrem, 1841)
The black-headed duck (Heteronetta atricapilla) is a species in the family Anatidae, order Anseriformes. Recorded adults weigh 507 g to 565 g. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.
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Quick facts about the black-headed duck
- Weight
- 507 g – 565 gsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Lifespan
- Not recorded
- Diet
- Herbivoresrc for Diet
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- wetlandsrc for Habitat
- Young per litter or clutch
- 2src for Young per litter or clutch
- Lifestyle
- Aquaticsrc for Lifestyle
- Migration
- Sedentarysrc for Migration
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
Where does the black-headed duck live?
Not recorded
What is the black-headed duck?
The black-headed duck (Heteronetta atricapilla) is a South American duck in subfamily Oxyurinae of family Anatidae. It is found in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay, and Uruguay.
From the Wikipedia article “Black-headed duck” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Black-headed_duck&oldid=1354820724), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
Is the black-headed duck endangered?
The black-headed duck is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species.
How is the black-headed duck classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classAves
- orderAnseriformes
- familyAnatidae
- genusHeteronetta
- SpeciesHeteronetta atricapilla (Merrem, 1841)
Synonyms Anas atricapilla, Anas melanocephala
Other names and names in other languages (35)
- Cuckoo duckEnglish
- بط الوقواقArabic
- بط أسود الرأسArabic
- ànec capnegreCatalan
- kachnice černohlaváCzech
- hwyaden benddu’r ArianninWelsh
- SnylteandDanish
- KuckucksenteGerman
- nigrakapa anasoEsperanto
- Pato rinconeroSpanish
- Pato cabeza negraSpanish
- Pato de cabeza negraSpanish
- nugipartEstonian
- loissorsaFinnish
- Hétéronette à tête noireFrench
- Ype akâ hûGuarani
- mrka čakoraCroatian
- kakukkréceHungarian
- Gobbo testaneraItalian
- ズグロガモJapanese
- juodagalvė antisLithuanian
- koekoekeendDutch
- KoekoekseendDutch
- gjøkandNorwegian
- pasożytkaPolish
- marreca-de-cabeça-pretaPortuguese
- marrequinha-de-cabeça-pretaPortuguese
- Черноголовая уткаRussian
- zanášavka čiernohlaváSlovak
- Patagonska crnoglava patkaSerbian
- svarthuvad andSwedish
- Guguk ÖrdeğiTurkish
- качка чорноголоваUkrainian
- 黑头鸭Chinese
- 黑頭鴨Chinese
Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistWikidataWoRMSIUCN Red List
Relatives of the black-headed duck
Other species in the same family Anatidae.
Mallard
Anas platyrhynchos
Greylag goose
Anser anser
Northern pintail
Anas acuta
Mute swan
Cygnus olor
Eurasian teal
Anas crecca
Ruddy shelduck
Tadorna ferruginea
CompareBlack-headed duck vs MallardBlack-headed duck vs Greylag gooseBlack-headed duck vs Northern pintailBlack-headed duck vs Mute swan
Common questions
Answered only where our data holds the answer.
How big is the black-headed duck?
An adult black-headed duck weighs 507 g – 565 g, according to values recorded on Wikidata.
Is the black-headed duck endangered?
The black-headed duck is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, meaning it is not currently at risk of extinction.
What kind of animal is the black-headed duck?
The black-headed duck (Heteronetta atricapilla) belongs to the family Anatidae in the order Anseriformes.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds · CC BY 4.0 · v7
Tobias, J.A. et al. (2022) AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds. Ecology Letters 25: 581–597. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13898. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Black-headed duck (Heteronetta atricapilla). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/black-headed-duck
“Black-headed duck (Heteronetta atricapilla).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/black-headed-duck.
@misc{black_headed_duck_2026,
title = {Black-headed duck (Heteronetta atricapilla)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/black-headed-duck},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}