---
title: "South African Shelduck"
description: "Tadorna cana — Birds. The South African shelduck or Cape shelduck (Tadorna cana) is a species of shelduck, a group of large goose-like birds in the bird family Anatidae, which includes the swans, geese and ducks."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/animal/south-african-shelduck
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# South African Shelduck

> Tadorna cana — Birds. The South African shelduck or Cape shelduck (Tadorna cana) is a species of shelduck, a group of large goose-like birds in the bird family Anatidae, which includes the swans, geese and ducks.

- Scientific name: *Tadorna cana*
- Category: `birds` (Birds)
- Habitats: `freshwater` (Lakes & rivers)
- iNaturalist observations: 2191
- Wikidata: [Q1065465](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1065465)
- iNaturalist taxon: [7071](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/7071)

## Names

- en: South African Shelduck
- de: Kapgans
- es: Tarro sudafricano
- fr: Tadorne à tête grise
- nl: Kaapse casarca
- pt: Pato-de-cabeça-cinzenta
- pl: Kazarka szarogłowa

## Countries with the most observations

ZA (1704), NA (288), GB (16), FR (12), DE (10), IT (10), BW (8), NL (6)

## Summary

The South African shelduck or Cape shelduck (Tadorna cana) is a species of shelduck, a group of large goose-like birds in the bird family Anatidae, which includes the swans, geese and ducks. This is a common species native to southern Africa.
This is a 64 cm (25 in) long bird which breeds mainly in Namibia and South Africa. In the austral winter, many birds move north-east from the breeding range to favoured moulting grounds, where sizable concentrations occur.
This species is mainly associated with lakes and rivers in fairly open country, breeding in disused mammal holes, usually those of the aardvark. Pairs tend…

Text: Wikipedia (en), CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_African_shelduck

## Photo

![South African Shelduck](https://animalchecklist.com/img/animals/south-african-shelduck/medium.jpg)

Photo: Aiken Lau · CC0 · inaturalist — https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/329706216

## Machine access

`GET https://animalchecklist.com/api/v1/animals/south-african-shelduck?lang=en` — see [openapi.json](https://animalchecklist.com/openapi.json).