Fulvous whistling duck
Fulvous whistling duck | |
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Adult at the Wilhelma zoological and botanical gardens in Stuttgart | |
Scientific classification ![]() | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Aves |
Order: | Anseriformes |
Family: | Anatidae |
Genus: | Dendrocygna |
Species: | D. bicolor
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Binomial name | |
Dendrocygna bicolor (Vieillot, 1816)
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Approximate breeding range
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The fulvous whistling duck or fulvous tree duck (Dendrocygna bicolor) is a species of
The fulvous whistling duck feeds in wetlands by day or night on seeds and other parts of plants. It is sometimes regarded as a pest of rice cultivation, and is also shot for food in parts of its range. Despite hunting, poisoning by pesticides and natural predation by mammals, birds, and reptiles, the large numbers and huge range of this duck mean that it is classified as least concern by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
Taxonomy
The
The duck was first described by Johann Friedrich Gmelin in 1789 and given the name Anas fulva but the name was "preoccupied", or already used, by Friedrich Christian Meuschen in 1787 for another species.[7][a] This led to the next available name proposed by French ornithologist Louis Pierre Vieillot in 1816 from a Paraguayan specimen as Anas bicolor.[9][b] The whistling ducks were moved to their current genus, Dendrocygna, by British ornithologist William John Swainson in recognition of their differences from other ducks.[10] The genus name is derived from the Ancient Greek dendron, "tree", and Latin cygnus, "swan",[11] and bicolor is Latin for "two-coloured".[12] "Fulvous" means reddish-yellow, and is derived from the Latin equivalent fulvus.[13] Old and regional names include large whistling teal,[5] brown tree duck, Mexican duck, pichiguila, squealer and Spanish cavalier.[14]
Description
The fulvous whistling duck is 45–53 cm (18–21 in) long; the male weighs 748–1,050 g (26.4–37.0 oz), and the female averages marginally lighter at 712–1,000 g (25.1–35.3 oz).[5] The wingspan ranges from 85 to 93 cm.[15]
It is a long-legged duck, mainly different shades of brown; head, neck and breast are particularly rich buff (fulvous) with a darker back.[16] The mantle is more darker shade of brown with buff-tipped feathers, the flight feathers and tail are dark brown, and a dark brown to black stripe runs through the center of the crown down the back of the neck to the base of the mantle. It has whitish stripes on its flanks, a long grey bill and grey legs. In flight, the wings are brown above and black below, with no white markings, and a white crescent on the rump contrasts with the black tail.[17][18] All plumages are fairly similar, but the female is slightly smaller and duller-plumaged than the male. The juvenile has paler underparts, and appears generally duller, especially on the flanks.[5] There is a complete wing moult after breeding, and birds then seek the cover of dense wetland vegetation while they are flightless. Body feathers may be moulted throughout the year; each feather is replaced only once annually.[19]
These are noisy birds with a clear whistling kee-wee-ooo call given on the ground or in flight, frequently heard at night.[16] Quarrelling birds also have a harsh repeated kee. In flight, the beating wings produce a dull sound.[20] The calls of males and females show differences in structure and an acoustic analysis on 59 captive birds demonstrated 100% accuracy in sexing when compared with molecular methods.[21]
Adult birds in Asia can be confused with the similar lesser whistling duck, which is smaller, has a blackish crown and lacks an obvious dark stripe down the back of the neck. Juvenile fulvous whistling ducks are very like young lesser whistling ducks, but the crown colour is still a distinction. Juvenile comb ducks are bulkier than whistling ducks and have a dark cap to the head. In South America and Africa, juvenile white-faced whistling ducks are separable from fulvous by their dark crowns, barred flanks and chestnut breasts.[20]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/32/Fulvous_Whistling_Duck_from_The_Crossley_ID_Guide_Eastern_Birds_crop.jpg/500px-Fulvous_Whistling_Duck_from_The_Crossley_ID_Guide_Eastern_Birds_crop.jpg)
Distribution and habitat
The fulvous whistling duck has a very large range extending across four continents. It breeds in lowland South America from northern Argentina to Colombia and then up to the southern US and the West Indies. It is found in a broad belt across sub-Saharan Africa and down the east of the continent to South Africa and Madagascar. The Indian subcontinent is the Asian stronghold.[20] It undertakes seasonal movements in response to the availability of water and food. African birds move southwards in the southern summer to breed and return north in the winter, and Asian populations are highly nomadic due to the variability of rainfall.[20] This species has strong colonising tendencies, having expanded its range in Mexico, the US and the West Indies in recent decades with northerly range expansions into California in late 19th century and rice-growing regions of the U.S. Gulf Coastal Plain in the early to mid-20th century, given its affinity for rice-growing areas.[20][16] Breeding in the northern American region is restricted to the Gulf Coastal Plain of Texas and Louisiana and localities in southern California and south- and east-central Florida.[16] Observations of the bird outside the nesting season, especially since the 1950s have been recorded in temperate regions as far north as the Mississippi River Basin, eastern Great Lakes region, and along the Pacific and Atlantic Coasts right up to southern Canada.[16] Wandering birds can turn up far beyond the normal range, sometimes staying to nest, as in Morocco, Peru and Hawaii.[5]
The fulvous whistling duck is found in lowland marshes and swamps in open, rice fields, flat country, and it avoids wooded areas. It is not normally a mountain species, breeding in Venezuela, for example, only up 300 m (980 ft),[18] but the single Peruvian breeding record was at 4,080 m (13,390 ft).[5]
Behaviour
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e2/Dendrocygna_bicolor%2C_London_Wetland_Centre%2C_UK_-_Diliff.jpg/220px-Dendrocygna_bicolor%2C_London_Wetland_Centre%2C_UK_-_Diliff.jpg)
This species is usually found in small groups, but substantial flocks can form at favoured sites. It walks well, without waddling, and normally feeds by upending, though it can dive if necessary.[20] It does not often perch in trees, unlike other whistling ducks. It flies at low altitude with slow wingbeats and trailing feet, in loose flocks rather than tight formation. It feeds during the day and at night in fairly large flocks, often with other whistling duck species, but rests or sleeps in smaller groups in the middle of the day.[19] They are noisy and display their aggression towards other individuals by throwing back their heads. Before taking off in alarm, they often shake their head sideways.[22]
Several
Breeding
Breeding coincides with the availability of water. In South America and South Africa, the main nesting period is December–February, in Nigeria it is July–December, and in North America mid-May–August.[5] In India, the breeding season is from June to October but peaking in July and August.[26] Fulvous whistling ducks show lifelong monogamy; the courtship display is limited to some mutual head-dipping before mating and a short dance after copulation in which the birds raise their bodies side by side while treading water.[19]
Pairs may breed alone or in loose groups. In South Africa, nests may be within 50 m (160 ft) of each other, and breeding densities of up to 13.7 nests per square kilometre (35.5 per square mile) have been found in Louisiana. The nest, 19–26 cm (7.5–10.2 in) across, is made from plant leaves and stems and has little or no soft lining. It is usually built on the ground (unlike the Black-bellied whistling duck), in marsh vegetation, and in artificial habitats such as shallowly-flooded rice fields, in dense vegetation and close to water,[5][16][18] but sometimes in tree holes. In India, the use of tree holes, and even the old nests of raptors or crows, is much more common than elsewhere.[20] Eggs are laid at roughly 24- to 36-hour intervals, starting before the nest is complete, resulting in some losses from the clutch. They are whitish and on average measure 53.4 mm × 40.7 mm (2.10 in × 1.60 in) and weigh 50.4 g (1.78 oz).[19] The clutch is usually around ten eggs, but other females sometimes lay into the nest, so 20 or more may be found on occasion.[5] Eggs may also be added to the nests of other species, like ruddy duck.[27]
Both sexes incubate, changing over once a day, with the male often taking the greater share of this duty. The eggs hatch in about 24–29 days,
In South Africa, a few records of hybridization with the white-faced whistling duck have been noted in the wild;[28][29] in most parts of southern Africa, the two species breed at different times, bicolor during the dry season (April to September) and viduata during the rains (October to March).[30] Hybridization in captivity is more frequent but limited to other species in the genus Dendrocygna.[31][32]
Feeding
The fulvous whistling duck feeds in wetlands by day or night, often in
Status
The
The fulvous whistling duck has expanded its range in the West Indies, and into the southern US.[20] A series of invasions from South America and reaching the eastern US commenced around 1948, fueled by rice cultivation, and breeding was recorded in Cuba in 1964,[19] and Florida in 1965. Some Florida birds still winter in Cuba.[34] In Africa, it bred on the Cape Peninsula between 1940 and the 1960s. A survey of eighteen species which had colonised the area in recent decades found that most were wetland species that had used irrigated farmland as "stepping stones" across the arid country separating the peninsula from the breeding main range. However, the status of the two whistling duck species featured in the research is dubious since they are popular ornamental species, so their origin is unclear.[35]
Outside North America it is subject to hunting for food or because of its liking for rice, and persecution means that it is now rare in Madagascar. Pesticides used on rice fields may also have an adverse impact,[5] causing liver and breast muscle damage even at sub-lethal levels.[36]
Notes
References
- ^ . Retrieved 16 February 2022.
- ^ Madge & Burn (1988) p. 124.
- ^ Feduccia (1999) p. 219.
- .
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Hoyo, Josep del; Elliott, Andrew; Sargatal, Jordi; Christie, David A (eds.). "Fulvous Whistling-duck". Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Lynx Edicions. Retrieved 17 March 2014. (subscription required)
- ^ Wetmore, Alexander; Peters, James L (1922). "A new genus and four new subspecies of American birds". Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington. 35: 41–46. Archived from the original on 26 March 2014. Retrieved 26 March 2014.
- JSTOR 4070558.
- ^ Pollock, Andrew W (2012). Binomial and Trinomial Index to the Auk, 1884-1920. Also including the Nuttall Bulletin, 1876-1883 and the A.O.U. Check-List of North American Birds (all Seven Editions) (PDF). Vol. 1. p. 253.
- ^ Vieillot (1816) pp. 136–137.
- ^ Swainson (1837) p. 365.
- ^ Jobling (2010) pp. 128, 133.
- ^ Jobling (2010) p. 72.
- ^ "Fulvous". Oxford English Dictionary. Oxford University Press. Retrieved 17 March 2014.(subscription required)
- ^ a b Phillips (1922) pp. 128–129.
- ^ Oiseaux.net. "Dendrocygne fauve - Dendrocygna bicolor - Fulvous Whistling Duck". www.oiseaux.net. Retrieved 25 September 2020.
- ^ a b c d e f Hohman, W. L.; Lee, S. A. (2020). "Birds of the World". Birds of the World (S. M. Billerman, Editor) – via Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA.
- ^ Barlow et al. (1997) p. 135.
- ^ a b c Hilty (2003) p. 195.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Kear (2005) pp. 199–202.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Madge & Burn (1988) pp. 126–127.
- S2CID 84942166.
- ^ Johnsgard (1965) pp. 16–20
- JSTOR 4159536.
- S2CID 86245106.
- ^ Forrester, Donald J; Kinsella, John M; Mertins, James W; Price, Roger D; Turnbull, Richard E (1994). "Parasitic helminths and arthropods of Fulvous Whistling-Ducks (Dendrocygna bicolor) in Southern Florida" (PDF). Journal of the Helminthological Society of Washington. 61 (1): 84–88.
- ^ Ali & Ripley (1978) pp. 139–141.
- JSTOR 1360784.
- ^ Harebottle, Doug; Vanderwalt, Brian (2014). "Hybridisation between White-faced and Fulvous Ducks in the wild: further evidence from South Africa" (PDF). Ornithological Observations. 5: 17–21.
- .
- ^ Siegfried, W Roy (1973). "Morphology and ecology of the southern African whistling ducks (Dendrocygna)" (PDF). The Auk. 90 (1): 198–201.
- ^ Kear (2005) p. 188.
- JSTOR 1365656.
- ^ "Annex 2: Waterbird species to which the Agreement applies" (PDF). Agreement on the conservation of African-Eurasian migratory Waterbirds (AEWA). AEWA. Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 July 2011. Retrieved 17 March 2014.
- JSTOR 3809607.
- S2CID 84291550.
- JSTOR 3809608.
Cited texts
- Ali, Salim; Ripley, Dillon S (1978). Handbook of the birds of India and Pakistan. Volume 1 (2nd ed.). New Delhi: Oxford University Press.
- Barlow, Clive; Wacher, Tim; Disley, Tony (1997). A Field Guide to birds of The Gambia and Senegal. Boroughbridge, Sussex: Pica Press. ISBN 978-1-873403-32-7.
- Feduccia, Alan (1999). The Origin and Evolution of Birds. New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-07861-9.
- Hilty, Steven L (2003). Birds of Venezuela. London: Christopher Helm. ISBN 978-0-7136-6418-8.
- Jobling, James A (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.
- Johnsgard, Paul (1965). Handbook of Waterfowl Behavior. Ithaca, New York: Comstock Publishing Associates.
- Kear, Janet (2005). Ducks, Geese and Swans. Vol. 1. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-854645-0.
- Madge, Steve; Burn, Hilary (1988). Wildfowl: An Identification Guide to the Ducks, Geese and Swans of the World (Helm Identification Guides). London: Christopher Helm. ISBN 978-0-7470-2201-5.
- Phillips, John Charles (1922). A Natural History of the Ducks. Vol. 1. Cambridge: Houghton Mifflin.
- Swainson, William (1837). On the Natural History and Classification of Birds. Vol. 2. London: Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, Green & Longman.
- Vieillot, Louis Pierre (1816). Nouveau Dictionnaire d'Histoire Naturelle (in French). Vol. 5. Paris: Deterville.
External links
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/df/Wikispecies-logo.svg/34px-Wikispecies-logo.svg.png)
- Fulvous Whistling-duck videos at the Internet Bird Collection
- Tribe Dendrocygnini (Whistling or Tree Ducks) from Johnsgard, Paul A. Ducks, Geese, and Swans of the World
- Species text in The Atlas of Southern African Birds
- Calls at Xeno-canto