Fulvous Whistling-Duck
General Description
Sometimes called tree-ducks, the whistling-ducks compose a unique group of eight species of worldwide distribution, mostly in the tropics. They are distinctive for their long-legged, long-necked, rather chunky appearance. Of the two species that reach the United States only one, the Fulvous Whistling-Duck, has been recorded in Washington. Its rich, tawny-colored underparts contrast with a darker back; all-dark wings and a broad white band across the rump stand out in flight.
This species typically favors open, shallow freshwater habitats such as marshes, reed-fringed ponds, and flooded fields, roosting by day and foraging at night. It breeds along the Gulf Coast of Louisiana and Texas, in southern Florida, and in the Imperial Valley of southern California, south through the West Indies, Mexico, and Central America to Argentina. It is also resident in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. Birds regularly wander northward in North America, predominantly east of the Rockies and often in small parties. Washington’s only confirmed record was of one bird shot from a flock of 10 at Grays Harbor (Grays Harbor County) in October 1905. In September of that year five birds were shot from a flock of 11 at Port Alberni on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, providing what is still the province’s only convincing record. Oregon, too, has a single well-documented record, of a flock of 11 birds at Coos Bay in February 1970.
Revised June 2007
North American Range Map
Family Members
- Fulvous Whistling-DuckDendrocygna bicolor
- Taiga Bean-GooseAnser fabalis
- Greater White-fronted GooseAnser albifrons
- Emperor GooseChen canagica
- Snow GooseChen caerulescens
- Ross's GooseChen rossii
- BrantBranta bernicla
- Cackling GooseBranta hutchinsii
- Canada GooseBranta canadensis
- Mute SwanCygnus olor
- Trumpeter SwanCygnus buccinator
- Tundra SwanCygnus columbianus
- Wood DuckAix sponsa
- GadwallAnas strepera
- Falcated DuckAnas falcata
- Eurasian WigeonAnas penelope
- American WigeonAnas americana
- American Black DuckAnas rubripes
- MallardAnas platyrhynchos
- Blue-winged TealAnas discors
- Cinnamon TealAnas cyanoptera
- Northern ShovelerAnas clypeata
- Northern PintailAnas acuta
- GarganeyAnas querquedula
- Baikal TealAnas formosa
- Green-winged TealAnas crecca
- CanvasbackAythya valisineria
- RedheadAythya americana
- Ring-necked DuckAythya collaris
- Tufted DuckAythya fuligula
- Greater ScaupAythya marila
- Lesser ScaupAythya affinis
- Steller's EiderPolysticta stelleri
- King EiderSomateria spectabilis
- Common EiderSomateria mollissima
- Harlequin DuckHistrionicus histrionicus
- Surf ScoterMelanitta perspicillata
- White-winged ScoterMelanitta fusca
- Black ScoterMelanitta nigra
- Long-tailed DuckClangula hyemalis
- BuffleheadBucephala albeola
- Common GoldeneyeBucephala clangula
- Barrow's GoldeneyeBucephala islandica
- SmewMergellus albellus
- Hooded MerganserLophodytes cucullatus
- Common MerganserMergus merganser
- Red-breasted MerganserMergus serrator
- Ruddy DuckOxyura jamaicensis