Whistling duck

Whistling ducks
Black-bellied Whistling Duck, Birding Center, Port Aransas, Texas
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Anseriformes
Family:	Anatidae
Subfamily:	Dendrocygninae Reichenbach, 1853
Genus:	Dendrocygna Swainson, 1837
Species
Dendrocygna arborea Dendrocygna arcuata Dendrocygna autumnalis Dendrocygna bicolor Dendrocygna eytoni Dendrocygna guttata Dendrocygna javanica Dendrocygna viduata

The whistling ducks or tree ducks are a subfamily, Dendrocygninae of the duck, goose and swan family of birds, Anatidae. In other taxonomical approaches, they are either considered a separate family "Dendrocygnidae", or a tribe "Dendrocygnini" in the goose subfamily Anserinae (e.g. Terres & NAS, 1991).

It contains only one genus, Dendrocygna, containing eight living species, and one known from hitherto undescribed subfossils from Aitutaki, Cook Islands (Steadman, 2006). These species have a worldwide distribution through the tropics and subtropics. These ducks have, as their name implies, distinctive whistling calls.

The whistling ducks have long legs and necks, and are very gregarious, flying to and from night-time roosts in large flocks. Both sexes have the same plumage, and all have a hunched appearance and black underwings in flight.

Species

• West Indian Whistling Duck, Dendrocygna arborea
• Wandering Whistling Duck, Dendrocygna arcuata
• Black-bellied Whistling Duck, Dendrocygna autumnalis
• Fulvous Whistling Duck, Dendrocygna bicolor
• Plumed Whistling Duck, Dendrocygna eytoni
• Spotted Whistling Duck, Dendrocygna guttata
• Lesser Whistling Duck, or Indian Whistling Duck, Dendrocygna javanica
• White-faced Whistling Duck, Dendrocygna viduata

Gallery

• 
  White-faced Whistling Duck Dendrocygna viduata
• 
  Black-bellied Whistling Duck Dendrocygna autumnalis
• 
  West Indian Whistling Duck Dendrocygna arborea
• 
  Lesser Whistling-duck Dendrocygna javanica

References

• Steadman, David William (2006): Extinction and Biogeography of Tropical Pacific Islands Birds. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 0-226-77142-3.
• WHISTLING DUCKS Tribe Dendrocygnini in Waterfowl of North America, Revised Edition (2010) by Paul A. Johnsgard
• Tribe Dendrocygnini (Whistling or Tree Ducks) in Ducks, Geese, and Swans of the World, Revised edition (2010) by Paul A. Johnsgard
• Terres, John K. & National Audubon Society (1991): The Audubon Society Encyclopedia of North American Birds. Wings Books, New York. ISBN 0-517-03288-0

External links

• Media related to Dendrocygna at Wikimedia Commons