Knob-billed Duck
Sarkidiornis melanotos
- Family
- Ducks, Swans, and Geese (Anatidae)
- Order
- Anseriformes
Overview
The knob-billed duck (Sarkidiornis melanotos) or African comb duck is a type of duck found along the tropical/sub-tropical wetlands and waterways of Sub-Saharan Africa and the island of Madagascar, as well as most of South Asia and mainland Indochina.
Most taxonomic authorities classify the knob-billed duck and the comb duck separately. A misidentified species of extinct Mauritian comb duck was initially described from unrecognised remains of the Mauritius sheldgoose (Alopochen mauritiana); this was realised as early as 1897, but the printed case of mistaken identity can still, occasionally, be found in modern-day sources.
Summary from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Range and habitat
Tropical Africa and Madagascar; disjunctly India to southern China.
Range description: AviList Global Avian Checklist.
Countries
- Angola
- Bangladesh
- Benin
- Botswana
- Burkina Faso
- Burundi
- Cambodia
- Central African Republic
- Chad
- China
- Côte d'Ivoire
- DR Congo
- Equatorial Guinea
- Eswatini
- Ethiopia
- Gabon
- Gambia
- Ghana
- Guinea
- Guinea-Bissau
- India
- Kenya
- Laos
- Lesotho
- Liberia
- Madagascar
- Malawi
- Malaysia
- Mali
- Mauritania
- Mozambique
- Myanmar
- Namibia
- Nepal
- Niger
- Nigeria
- Pakistan
- Republic of the Congo
- Rwanda
- Sao Tome and Principe
- Senegal
- Sierra Leone
- Somalia
- South Africa
- South Sudan
- Sudan
- Tanzania
- Thailand
- Togo
- Uganda
- Vietnam
- Zambia
- Zimbabwe
Sources and further reading
- Wikipedia: Knob-billed duck
- eBird: sightings, maps and photos
- xeno-canto: sound recordings
- Birds of the World: full species account (subscription)
- BirdLife DataZone: status and threats
- IUCN Red List (threat status)
- AviList global checklist (taxonomy)
Last updated September 29, 2026.