Australian shelduck

Tadorna tadornoides

The Australian shelduck (Tadorna tadornoides) is a bird found in Australia. Lakes and wetlands in southern Australia. It eats insects and other small invertebrates, leaves and other plant parts and seeds and nuts. The IUCN Red List lists it as Least Concern.

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Scientific name	Tadorna tadornoides
Region	Australia & Oceania
Found in	Australia

🏡 Where the Australian shelduck lives

Lakes and wetlands in southern Australia.

🍽️ What it eats

🐛 Insects & bugs40%
🌿 Leaves & plants30%
🌰 Seeds & nuts20%
🐟 Fish10%

A rough guide to its diet over a year. Source: EltonTraits (Wilman et al. 2014).

Conservation status

LCNTVUENCREWEX

Least ConcernThere are plenty of these birds.

💡 It nests in tree hollows, and its ducklings jump down to the ground.

Hear the Australian shelduck

Recorded by Ramit Singal (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0), xeno-canto XC567416. Trimmed to a few seconds.

Questions about the Australian shelduck

Where does the Australian shelduck live?

The Australian shelduck lives in Australia. Lakes and wetlands in southern Australia.

What does the Australian shelduck eat?

insects and other small invertebrates (about 40%), leaves and other plant parts (about 30%), seeds and nuts (about 20%), fish (about 10%). These are rough shares of its diet over a year, from the EltonTraits database.

Is the Australian shelduck endangered?

There are plenty of these birds. Its IUCN Red List category is Least Concern.

More birds from Australia & Oceania

Sources: IUCN Red List (via Wikidata), EltonTraits 1.0 (Wilman et al. 2014), GBIF sightings for countries, Wikipedia. Last updated 2026-10-19.