The secretive garganey (Spatula querquedula) is probably named from the Italian garganella or Old Italian garganello (throat, gargling) – referencing its feeding by skimming rather than dabbling. The adult male is unmistakable, with its brown head and breast with a broad white crescent over the eye. The female is mostly brown, resembling a female teal, but with a longer, all-grey bill and bolder facial markings. In the breeding season, the garganey prefers shallow waters with rich vegetation. It breeds in much of Europe and across the Palearctic, but is strictly migratory, with the entire population moving to southern Africa, India, Bangladesh and Australasia during the winter of the Northern hemisphere, where large flocks can occur. The breeding call of a male garganey is a strange, croaking rattle - it sounds a little like running a fingernail across the teeth of a comb.
