Basic Information
Scientific classification
- Chinese name: White-faced Tree Duck
- Scientific name: Dendrocygna viduata, White-faced Whistling-duck, White-faced Duck, White-faced Whistling Duck
- Classification: Waterfowl
- Family and genus: Anseriformes, Anatidae, Anatolia
Vital signs data
- Body length: 38-48 cm
- Weight: 502-820g
- Lifespan: No verification data available.
Significant features
It has a gray beak, a long head and legs, a white face and crown, and a black nape.
Distribution and Habitat
Distributed in Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Aruba, Barbados, Benin, Bolivia, Bonaire, São Eustache and Saba, Botswana, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Colombia, Comoros, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ivory Coast, Cuba, Curaçao, Dominican Republic, Dominican Republic, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, French Guiana, Gabon, Gambia, and other countries. Guadeloupe, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mayotte, Montserrat, Mozambique, Namibia, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Paraguay, Peru, Réunion, Rwanda, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Saint Martin (Netherlands), Somalia, South Africa, South Sudan, Sudan, Suriname, Swaziland, United Republic of Tanzania, Togo, Trinidad and Tobago, Uganda, Uruguay, Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic, Zambia, Zimbabwe.
Possibly extinct: Costa Rica. Regionally extinct: Puerto Rico. Migratory bird: Chile, Panama, Seychelles, Spain.
They inhabit waters rich in vegetation, such as ponds, lakes, and reservoirs, and are also found in forest edge marshes and ponds and streams surrounded by vegetation. They prefer to hide in tall grass or under lotus leaves, and also live in groups on the water surface, but usually avoid open lakes.
Appearance
The White-faced Tree Duck is 38-48 cm long with a wingspan of 86-94 cm. Males weigh 820 grams, and females weigh 502 grams. It has a grey beak and a long head and legs. The face and comb are white, while the nape is black. The back and wings are dark brown to black, the underparts are black with white markings on the sides. The neck is chestnut brown. The markings on the head are less pronounced in chicks.
Detailed introduction
The White-faced Whistling Duck (scientific name: Dendrocygna viduata), also known as the White-faced Whistling Duck, is a bird belonging to the family Anatidae in the order Anseriformes.
White-faced tree ducks can forage on the water's surface and underwater, and sometimes also forage for grass along the water's edge. Their diet consists mainly of plant-based foods such as rice, crop seedlings, grass, and aquatic plants, but they also eat animal-based foods such as insects, snails, molluscs, frogs, and small fish. Usually, at dusk, tree ducks fly in flocks of several to dozens to nearby rice paddies to forage, returning to their daytime roosting areas before dawn.
When the White-faced Tree Duck rests, it stands upright, and several of them often crane their necks to look around. If they encounter humans or predators, they are the first to take flight, followed by the others. They are extremely alert. They usually forage in groups of several to dozens, and sometimes in large flocks of hundreds. Their flight is weak, and they are slower than other ducks. They are also good swimmers and divers, with particularly strong diving abilities, capable of diving for over ten minutes at a time. During the hot daytime, they often sleep and rest in reed beds or other tall aquatic plants. If food is plentiful and undisturbed, they tend to stay in one fixed location, generally not changing habitats or even undertaking long-distance migrations.
The breeding season for the White-faced Tree Duck is from May to July. They nest in grassy areas covered by trees or vegetation, or in reed marshes and tree cavities. Courtship and mating take place in the water. Before mating, the male and female swim together, with the male repeatedly dipping his beak into the water towards the female, who remains upright. Then, the male suddenly mounts the female's back to mate. The nest is constructed of grass leaves and stems, measuring 25 cm in diameter and 6 cm in height. Each clutch contains 8-12 eggs, usually around 10, which are white. Both parents incubate the eggs for 27-30 days.
Listed as Least Concern (LC) on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2012 ver 3.1.
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