Female Torrent Duck

La historia

This female Torrent Duck (Merganetta armata) rested on a rock beside fast water in Pichindé, in the hills above Cali, Colombia, in the buffer zone of Farallones de Cali National Natural Park. Females have orange underparts and throat with a gray head and upperparts, and they are smaller than the males. Torrent Ducks hold territories on fast-flowing Andean rivers, usually above 1,500 meters, and they swim and dive strongly even in white water.

I made this frame with a Canon R5 and the RF 800mm f/11 plus the RF 1.4x extender, at 1/30 sec, f/16, ISO 3200, −1 EV. IUCN lists the Torrent Duck as Least Concern, and because it depends on clean, fast mountain rivers, the streams protected around the Farallones de Cali park matter to it.

El ave

The Torrent Duck (Merganetta armata) pertenece a la familia Anatidae (Ducks, Geese, and Waterfowl) en la taxonomía eBird/Clements.

Fuente: eBird.org (se abre en una pestaña nueva)

Conservación

Least Concern on the IUCN Red List (assessment published 2025), with the population trend listed as decreasing. Fuente: Lista Roja de la UICN