Skip to main content

Fulvous Whistling-Duck

Silhouette DucksDucks
Fulvous Whistling-DuckDendrocygna bicolor
  • ORDER: Anseriformes
  • FAMILY: Anatidae

Basic Description

Whistling-ducks are a distinctive group of about 8 species of brightly colored, oddly proportioned waterfowl. The Fulvous Whistling-Duck is a mix of rich caramel-brown and black, a long-legged and long-necked creature found in warm freshwater marshes across the Americas, Africa, and Asia. In the United States they are rarely found far from rice fields, which provide both food and an optimal water depth for these gangly birds to forage in. They often roost in trees and were once known as “tree ducks.”

More ID Info
image of range map for Fulvous Whistling-Duck
Year-roundBreedingMigrationNonbreeding
Range map provided by Birds of the World
Explore Maps

Find This Bird

In the United States, look for Fulvous Whistling-Ducks in and around rice fields in central Florida (year-round) or coastal Texas and Louisiana (spring through fall). In addition to rice fields, they may occur at crayfish farms and flooded pastures. They may flock with more numerous Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks, which have a gray head and bright pink bill, not a dark bill. Scan for these long-necked birds looking up out of marsh vegetation or watch at dusk and dawn for flocks flying between roosts and foraging areas.

Other Names

  • Suirirí Bicolor (Spanish)
  • Dendrocygne fauve (French)
  • Cool Facts