Torrent Duck (Merganetta armata)

As the name implies this duck resides in fast flowing rivers. It’s an incredibly powerful swimmer and swims upstream as if it’s flying. I wonder how it manages in the rainy season when the water level is at its highest.


This is the male.


This is the female.


It’s awesome to see how they dive into the most chaotic parts of the river, and even more so that they are able to find food in an environment so visually distorted. They eat insect larvae, molluscs and some fish.

Altitude 2655 metres.

It sounds like this:

Cayambe Coca Ecological Reserve, Ecuador
-0.378333,-78.074167

Last updated on 8 December 2020