[3] Analysis of mtDNA sequences of the cytochrome b and NADH dehydrogenase subunit 2 genes suggests that it belongs into a very distinct clade—possibly a subfamily of its own—together with the blue-winged goose, another African species of waterfowl with uncertain affinities.

Hartlaub’s ducks reside in swampy marshes, tropical forests, savanna areas, rivers, and streams.

Year-round, they will live in parts of central western Africa, including the Democratic Republic of Congo and Cameroon.

The Republic of Congo’s Nouabalé-Ndoki National Park reports that the ducks regularly feed on the insects found in elephant dung.

The females lay cream-colored eggs, and the chicks have sooty-black heads, yellowish bodies, and an additional orange tinge to the chin, neck, and face.

Despite a declining population trend, it does not demonstrate the rapidity required to warrant worrying over the possibility of distinction or at-risk status.

[5] One of the largest threats to the Hartlaub's duck is forest destruction, hunting, and water pollution from mining and poison-fishing.