Schellente Upper Austria

During the breeding season the Schellente uses clear, fish-poor standing waters such as forest lakes, bog pools and slow-flowing river stretches that are framed by mature trees with suitable cavities. The species depends on a tight mosaic of water and forest, because as a pronounced cavity nester it relies in the Old World above all on abandoned nest holes of the Black Woodpecker. Where natural cavities are missing the bird readily accepts purpose-built nest boxes, which form part of species-protection programmes in many regions. Any hunting use is governed strictly by current state law and local regulation.

The cavity-breeding behaviour is highly characteristic and important for proper identification in the field. The female lays roughly eight to eleven greenish-blue eggs inside a tree cavity that often sits several metres above the ground and incubates them alone for about 30 days. Only a few days after hatching the ducklings respond to the calls of the female and jump from considerable height out of the cavity, after which the family walks together to the nearest open water. This behaviour explains why a Schellente family can be encountered well away from open water under mature broadleaf trees in early summer.

In Central Europe the Schellente occurs both as a breeding bird and as a winter visitor. The breeding population is concentrated above all in the wooded north-east of Germany as well as in Scandinavia and northern Eastern Europe. From these northern breeding grounds large numbers move south in autumn, so that during the winter half of the year the species appears much more widely on lakes, reservoirs, rivers and brackish coastal waters across the country. Acoustically the bird is most conspicuous in flight, because the rapid wing beats produce a clear, almost bell-like whistling sound, which is the origin of the German name Schellente. This distinctive in-flight tone often allows identification before the bird itself has been confirmed visually. The Schellente is listed under the German hunting law, but in practice it is effectively not hunted because it is subject to a year-round closed season, with state-level variations remaining possible.