White-faced Whistling Duck

White-faced Whistling Duck
White-faced Whistling Duck
Conservation status
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Anseriformes
Family: Anatidae
Subfamily: Dendrocygninae
Genus: Dendrocygna
Species: D. viduata
Binomial name
Dendrocygna viduata
(Linnaeus, 1766)

The White-faced Whistling Duck, Dendrocygna viduata, is a whistling duck which breeds in sub-Saharan Africa and much of South America.

This species is gregarious, and at favoured sites, the flocks of a thousand or more birds arriving at dawn are an impressive sight. As the name implies, these are noisy birds with a clear three-note whistling call.

Contents

Description

This species has a long grey bill, long head and longish legs. It has a white face and crown, and black rear head. The back and wings are dark brown to black, and the underparts are black, although the flanks have fine white barring. The neck is chestnut. All plumages are similar, except that juveniles have a much less contrasted head pattern.

Range and habitat

The habitat is still freshwater lakes or reservoirs, with plentiful vegetation, where this duck feeds on seeds and other plant food.

Ecology

This is an abundant species. It is largely resident, apart from local movements which can be 100 km or more.

Breeding

It nests on a stick platform near the ground, and lays 8-12 eggs. Trees are occasionally used for nesting.

Conservation

The White-faced Whistling Duck is one of the species to which the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA) applies.

Gallery

References

  • BirdLife International (2004). Dendrocygna viduata. 2006. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. www.iucnredlist.org. Retrieved on 11 May 2006. Database entry includes justification for why this species is of least concern
  • Wildfowl by Madge and Burn, ISBN 0-7470-2201-1

External links


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать курсовую

Look at other dictionaries:

  • white-faced whistling-duck — baltaveidė medžąsė statusas T sritis zoologija | vardynas atitikmenys: lot. Dendrocygna viduata angl. white faced whistling duck vok. Witwenpfeifgans, f rus. белолицая свистящая утка, f; утка вдовушка, f pranc. dendrocygne veuf, m ryšiai:… …   Paukščių pavadinimų žodynas

  • Whistling duck — Whistling ducks Black bellied Whistling Duck, Birding Center, Port Aransas, Texas Scientific classification Kingdom …   Wikipedia

  • White-faced — may refer to:* White faced Heron, common bird throughout most of Australasia * White faced Ibis, wading bird in the ibis family Threskiornithidae * White faced Saki, type of New World monkey * White faced Starling, member of the starling family… …   Wikipedia

  • Black-bellied Whistling Duck — Northern subspecies (D. a. autumnalis, note brown breast). The white wing patch, a tell tale feature of this species, is conspicuous in flight. Conservation status …   Wikipedia

  • List of birds of Colombia — This is a list of the bird species recorded in Colombia. The avifauna of Colombia includes a total of 1895 species, of which 74 are endemic, 2 have been introduced by humans, and 87 are rare or accidental. 1 species listed is extirpated in… …   Wikipedia

  • List of birds of Bolivia — This is a list of the bird species recorded in Bolivia. The avifauna of Bolivia includes a total of 1448 species, of which 25 are endemic, 2 have been introduced by humans, and 12 are rare or accidental. 31 species are globally threatened.This… …   Wikipedia

  • List of birds of Venezuela — This is a list of the bird species recorded in Venezuela. The avifauna of Venezuela includes a total of 1417 species, of which 48 are endemic, 6 have been introduced by humans, and 34 are rare or accidental. 27 species are globally… …   Wikipedia

  • List of birds of Argentina — This is a list of the bird species recorded in Argentina. The avifauna of Argentina includes a total of 1026 species, of which 20 are endemic, 7 have been introduced by humans, and 70 are rare or accidental. 45 species are globally… …   Wikipedia

  • List of African birds — This list of African birds is a listing of all the bird species known from the continent of Africa. TOCrightNotesThere are over 45 billion different species of birds in Africa.The taxonomy of this list adheres to James Clitorus Birds of the World …   Wikipedia

  • List of birds of Brazil — Brazil has one of the richest bird diversities in the world, with more than 1700 species of birds, about 57% of the bird species recorded for all of South America. These numbers are still increasing, almost every year, due to new occurrences or… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
… Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”