White-faced whistling duck

White-faced whistling duck
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
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)
File:Dendrocygnaviduatarange.png
White-faced whistling duck range

The white-faced whistling duck (Dendrocygna viduata) is a whistling duck that 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.

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 white-faced whistling duck has a peculiar disjunctive distribution, occurring in Africa and South America. It has been suggested that they may have been transported to new locations by humans. 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

• White-faced Whistling Duck with chicks RWD.jpg
• DendrocygnaViduataDavies.jpg
• White-faced Whistling-Duck (Dendrocygna viduata) RWD2.jpg
• Witwenpfeifgans.jpg
• ZA-KNP-enten.jpg
• White-faced Whistling Duck 2 (5375533475).jpg
• Dendrocygna viduata, imm, Austin Roberts.jpg
• Dendrocygna viduata 001.jpg

References

• Wildfowl by Madge and Burn, ISBN 0-7470-2201-1

External links

• White-faced Whistling Duck videos, photos & sounds on the Internet Bird Collection
• Species text in The Atlas of Southern African Birds.
• Johnsgard, Paul A. 1965. Handbook of waterfowl behaviour: Tribe Dendrocygnini (Whistling Ducks)
• Johnsgard, Paul A. (2010) Ducks, Geese, and Swans of the World: Tribe Dendrocygnini (Whistling or Tree Ducks)
• Treca, B., 1981: Diet of the white-faced Tree Duck (Dendrocygna viduata) in the Senegal delta. Oiseau et la Revue Francaise d’ Ornithologie 51(3): 219-238
• S. A. Petrie, K. H. Rogers (1997) Activity budget of breeding White-faced Ducks Dendrocygna viduata on stock-ponds in semi-arid South Africa, and a comparison with north-temperate waterfowl South African Journal of Wildlife Research, Vol. 27:79-85.
• Menegueti, J. O., Burger, M. I., Frozi, M., Tavares, A. E., Dotto, J. C., Fontana, C. S., Ramos, R. A. & Setubal, S. S. (1988) Nota prévia sobre os comportamentos reprodutivos de Dendrocygna viduata e Dendrocygna autumnalis no norte e noroeste do Estado de São Paulo. Resumos: XV Congresso Brasileiro de Zoologia. 31/1 a 5/2/1998. p. 468. Curitiba: Universidade Federal do Paraná.
• Petrie, SA (2005) Spring body condition, moult status, diet and behaviour of white-faced whistling ducks (Dendrocygna viduata) in northern South Africa. African Zoology 40(1): 83–92 http://www.bsc-eoc.org/download/LPWWRF%20WFWD%20Condition.pdf
• Michel Gauthier-Clerc, Alain Tamisier and Frank Cezilly (1994) Sleeping and Vigilance in the White-Faced Whistling-Duck. The Wilson Bulletin 106(4):759-762 http://www.jstor.org/stable/4163495
• Cooke, R.G.; Olsen, S.L. An archaeological record for the white-faced whistling-duck (Dendrocygna viduata) in Central Panama. Condor 1984, 86, 493-494. http://si-pddr.si.edu/jspui/bitstream/10088/6469/1/VZ_155_Dendrocygna_Panama.pdf
• Volodin I. A., Volodina E. V., Klenova A. V., Filatova O. A. 2005. Individual and sexual differences in the calls of the monomorphic White-faced Whistling Duck Dendrocygna viduata. Acta Ornithol. 40: 43–52. http://www.bioacoustica.org/publ/papers/138_Volodin_et_al_2005_Actaornitol.pdf
• http://moscowzoo.ru/docs/C105_402_Klenova_et_al_2002_Berlin.pdf
• http://www.moscowzoo.ru/docs/C105_131_Volodin_et_al_2003_IZN.pdf
• http://www.the-eis.com/data/literature/Oatley_1986_SA_J_Wildl_Res_16_waterfowl.pdf
• http://horizon.documentation.ird.fr/exl-doc/pleins_textes/pleins_textes_6/colloques2/010008478.pdf
• http://www.tau.ac.il/lifesci/zoology/members/yom-tov/articles/Factors.pdf
• http://www.bsc-eoc.org/download/lpwwrf%20wfwd%20nutrients.pdf
• http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2307/1364339
• http://repository.up.ac.za/xmlui/bitstream/handle/2263/20711/2alexander1997.pdf
• http://digital.bl.fcen.uba.ar/Download/008_ElHornero/008_ElHornero_v010_n03_articulo209.pdf