Black-bellied Whistling-Duck

Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks, adults, Brazos Bend, TX, February

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Black-bellied Whistling-Duck, adult, TX, April.

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1. Cool Facts
2. Description
3. Sound
4. Range
5. Food
6. Reproduction
7. Conservation Status
8. Other Names

A striking and gregarious duck of the Neotropics, the Black-bellied Whistling-Duck reaches the United States only in the very southern parts. Its long neck, long legs, black belly, and white wing patch make it a distinctive-looking waterfowl.

Cool Facts

• The whistling-ducks were formerly known as tree-ducks, but only a few, such as the Black-bellied Whistling-Duck actually perch or nest in trees. They look most like ducks, but their lack of sexual dimorphism, relatively long-term pair bonds, and lack of complex pair-forming behavior more resembles geese and swans.

Description

• Size: 47-51 cm (19-20 in)
• Weight: 652-1020 g (23.02-36.01 ounces)

• Medium-sized duck.
• Long neck.
• Long, pink legs.
• Chest and back rufous.
• Face gray.
• Bill red.
• Belly black.
• Large white patch on back of wings.

Sex Differences

Sexes alike.

Immature

Immature like adult, but duller and more grayish brown, with gray bill and feet, and mostly gray belly with some black spots.

Sound

Noisy. Call a high-pitched, soft wheezy whistle of four notes to six notes, accented on second or third syllable.

Range

Range Map

© 2004 Cornell Lab of Ornithology

About the map

Summer Range

Breeds in southeastern Arizona, southern and eastern Texas, southern Louisiana, and locally in Florida. Also from there southward into Central and South America.

Winter Range

Winters from southern Texas southward. Resident in Florida.

Food

Aquatic plants, grass, grain, insects, and mollusks.

Reproduction

Nest Type

Usually in tree cavity, without lining. Sometimes a scrape on ground or shallow bowl of woven grasses, with thick vegetation overhead, such as cactus. Uses nestboxes.

Egg Description

White.

Clutch Size

Condition at Hatching

Downy young leave the nest soon after hatching.

Conservation Status

Increasing in numbers in the United States.

Other Names

Siffleur à bec rouge, Siffleur à narines jaunes, Dendrocygne àventre noir (French)
Pichichí, Pijiji, Pichichil, Pichihuili, Yaguasa, Pato chiflador, Pato maizal, Pixixi (Spanish)
Black-bellied Tree Duck (English)

Sources used to construct this page:

James, J. D., and J. E. Thompson. 2001. Black-bellied Whistling-Duck (Dendrocygna autumnalis). In The Birds of North America, No. 578 (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.). The Birds of North America, Inc., Philadelphia, PA.