Dendrocygna viduata
The White-faced Whistling Duck, *Dendrocygna viduata*, is a strikingly marked and highly social waterfowl species, easily identified by its contrasting bright white face and fore-neck, set against a dark black hind-neck and crown. This medium-sized duck measures approximately 45-53 cm (18-21 inches) in length, with a wingspan of 75-90 cm (30-35 inches) and weighing between 700-950 grams. Its body plumage features a rich rufous chest that transitions to finely barred black and white flanks, a ...
Primarily inhabits a variety of freshwater wetlands, including shallow lakes, marshes, swamps, flooded grasslands, river deltas, and rice paddies, generally at low to moderate elevations.
Feeds predominantly on a vegetarian diet, consisting mainly of seeds and vegetative parts of aquatic plants and grasses, supplemented with some aquatic invertebrates, typically obtained by dabbling in shallow water or grazing on shore.
White-faced Whistling Ducks are highly gregarious birds, often found in large flocks outside the breeding season, sometimes numbering in the thousands. They are typically crepuscular or nocturnal feeders, spending their days roosting in dense groups, often standing upright on land or floating on ...
The White-faced Whistling Duck exhibits a remarkably disjunct distribution, with two primary populations separated by the Atlantic Ocean. One vast population spans sub-Saharan Africa, extending from Senegal east to Ethiopia and south through East Africa to South Africa, with significant concentra...
Least Concern
- The White-faced Whistling Duck has one of the most unusual distributions among birds, with populations separated by the entire Atlantic Ocean – one in sub-Saharan Africa and the other in eastern South America – without any recognized subspecies. - Despite their name, whistling ducks are not 'tr...