Comb duck
Sarkidiornis sylvicola H. Ihering & R. Ihering, 1907
The comb duck (Sarkidiornis sylvicola) is a species in the family Anatidae, order Anseriformes. Recorded adults weigh 1.78 kg to 2.61 kg. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.
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Quick facts about the comb duck
- Weight
- 1.78 kg – 2.61 kgsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Lifespan
- Not recorded
- Diet
- Herbivoresrc for Diet
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- wetlandsrc for Habitat
- Egg incubation
- 29 dayssrc for Egg incubation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 10.3src for Young per litter or clutch
- Litters or clutches a year
- 1src for Litters or clutches a year
- Lifestyle
- Generalistsrc for Lifestyle
- Migration
- Sedentarysrc for Migration
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
Where does the comb duck live?
Not recorded
What is the comb duck?
The comb duck or American comb duck (Sarkidiornis sylvicola), is an unusual duck found in tropical wetlands in continental South America south to the Paraguay River region in eastern Paraguay, southeastern Brazil and extreme northeastern Argentina, and as a vagrant on Trinidad.
Most taxonomic authorities split this species and the knob-billed duck from each other. The comb duck is generally smaller in size when compared to the knob-billed duck, and flanks are darker (black in males, medium grey in females).
From the Wikipedia article “Comb duck” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Comb_duck&oldid=1384652170), 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 comb duck endangered?
The comb 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 comb duck classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classAves
- orderAnseriformes
- familyAnatidae
- genusSarkidiornis
- SpeciesSarkidiornis sylvicola H. Ihering & R. Ihering, 1907
Synonyms Anas carunculata, Sarkidiornis carunculata, Sarkidiornis melanotos sylvatica, Sarkidiornis melanotos sylvicola, Sarkidiornis sylvicola carunculata, Sarkidiornis sylvicola sylvicola
Other names and names in other languages (37)
- American comb duckEnglish
- American comb duckEnglish
- Black-backed gooseEnglish
- Comb sheldrakeEnglish
- New World comb duckEnglish
- South American comb duckEnglish
- أوزة ذات الظهر الأسودArabic
- بط المشط العالم الجديدArabic
- ànec bec-crestat americàCatalan
- pižmovka černobokáCzech
- pižmovka hřebenatá jihoamerickáCzech
- Amerikansk KnopgåsDanish
- HöckerschnabelenteGerman
- amerika tuberanasoEsperanto
- Pato crestudo americanoSpanish
- Canard sylvicoleFrench
- Sarcidiorne sylvicoleFrench
- crnoboka patkaCroatian
- アメリカコブガモJapanese
- Amerikinė gumbasnapė antisLithuanian
- Amerikaanse KnobbeleendDutch
- kjølnebbandNorwegian
- Pato BòlòbònchiPapiamento
- Pato BolonbonchiPapiamento
- Patu BòlòbònchiPapiamento
- dziwonos czarnobocznyPolish
- pato-de-cristaPortuguese
- pato-de-carúncula-americanoPortuguese
- Лесная уткаRussian
- Шишконосая уткаRussian
- hrebenatka hrbozobáSlovak
- Američka češljasta patkaSerbian
- kamandSwedish
- Taraklı ÖrdekTurkish
- качка американськаUkrainian
- 南美瘤鴨Chinese
- 美洲瘤鸭Chinese
Relatives of the comb duck
Other species in the same genus Sarkidiornis.
Knob-billed duck
Sarkidiornis melanotos
Common questions
Answered only where our data holds the answer.
How big is the comb duck?
An adult comb duck weighs 1.78 kg – 2.61 kg, according to values recorded on Wikidata.
Is the comb duck endangered?
The comb 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 comb duck?
The comb duck (Sarkidiornis sylvicola) 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). Comb duck (Sarkidiornis sylvicola). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/comb-duck
“Comb duck (Sarkidiornis sylvicola).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/comb-duck.
@misc{comb_duck_2026,
title = {Comb duck (Sarkidiornis sylvicola)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/comb-duck},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}