(Picture by Brian Choo)
    Watching this gangly creature, with its bright-pink splayed limbs, long slender neck and bold colouration, one cannot help but feel that there is something distinctly wrong with this animal. Appearing to be a hasty "garage-kit" attempt by the Anseriformes to produce an fast antilopine herbivore, the Disco Duck combines the long legs of a runner with a duck's waddling gait  - it's nomenclatural link to the Minister of Silly Walks is no coincidence. I'm sure that one day some nancy-boy revisionist naturalist is going say that this perception is flawed and that they are magnificent creatures, beautifully adapted to their surroundings. Well as discoverer and describer of this species, I am stating for the record that they suck bigtime. So there.

[Editor's Note: After numerous attempts to quell Mr. Choo's whimsical nature, I have realized that all my efforts were useless and gave up]

    Discoes form flocks of up to 30 birds in lowland woods and grasslands. They feed on a wide range of vegetation including grasses, leaves and berries. They are the most sexually dimorphic of the gigaducks with the males possessing more ornate head crests and bright yellow ceres. Unlike other gigaducks, they are polygamous breeders. The males attempt to entice mates with a striking dance routine that has led to their common name.

    When pursued, the disco simply picks up the pace of it's usual "silly walking". The lower legs frantically rotate in a flurry of pink as the rest of the body jiggles and bounces with each step save for the head - the neck weaving to and fro to maintain it's position in space. All this activity is accompanied by the birds' loud, whooping alarm call.

    While appearing awkward in the extreme, a disco running at full speed is quite capable of outpacing a human or a lesser gobbler, the species's primary predator.

(Text by Brian Choo)


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