Characterization: Medium-sized species measuring about 43cm in length. Males and females are similar and have red or yellow eyes and dark-brown coloring, a bluish beak and wings with a broad white stripe visible only in flight.

Distribution: Eastern Brazil, Venezuela, Chile, and from Colombia to Argentina and Western and Southern Africa.

Habitat: Wetlands, commonly in lakes and ponds.

Habits: Diurnal and aquatic species. It is sociable and can occur in high concentrations.

Diet: Omnivorous, feeding on small seeds and leaves, rice, worms, insect larvae and small crustaceans.

Breeding: It lays its eggs in nests built on trees.

In the UFRA area: In the studies done in the San Francisco Sugarmill areas, this bird is considered rare because it was spotted only 3 times. Its distribution in the studied areas was restricted to drainage ditches. This species is threatened with extinction, in the Vulnerable category.