The West Indian whistling duck (''Dendrocygna arborea'') is a

whistling duck The whistling ducks or tree ducks are a subfamily, Dendrocygninae, of the duck, goose and swan family of birds, Anatidae. In other taxonomic schemes, they are considered a separate family, Dendrocygnidae. Some taxonomists list only one genu ...

that breeds in the

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...

. Alternative names are black-billed whistling duck and Cuban whistling duck.

Distribution

The West Indian whistling duck is widely scattered throughout the West Indies, including a large breeding population in the Bahamas, and smaller numbers in Cuba, the

Cayman Islands The Cayman Islands () is a self-governing British Overseas Territory—the largest by population in the western Caribbean Sea. The territory comprises the three islands of Grand Cayman, Cayman Brac and Little Cayman, which are located to the ...

Antigua and Barbuda Antigua and Barbuda (, ) is a sovereign country in the West Indies. It lies at the juncture of the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean in the Leeward Islands part of the Lesser Antilles, at 17°N latitude. The country consists of two maj ...

, Jamaica,

Hispaniola Hispaniola (, also ; es, La Española; Latin and french: Hispaniola; ht, Ispayola; tnq, Ayiti or Quisqueya) is an island in the Caribbean that is part of the Greater Antilles. Hispaniola is the most populous island in the West Indies, and th ...

(both the Dominican Republic and

Haiti Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and ...

), and Puerto Rico. It is largely sedentary, apart from local movements, which can be 100 km or more.

Description

The West Indian whistling duck is the largest and darkest of the whistling ducks. With a length of and female weighs from and male weights from , this species is about the size of a

mallard The mallard () or wild duck (''Anas platyrhynchos'') is a dabbling duck that breeds throughout the temperate and subtropical Americas, Eurasia, and North Africa, and has been introduced to New Zealand, Australia, Peru, Brazil, Uruguay, Arge ...

.Carboneras, C. and G. M. Kirwan (2020). ''West Indian Whistling-Duck (Dendrocygna arborea)'', version 1.0. In Birds of the World (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D. A. Christie, and E. de Juana, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. It has a long black bill, long head and longish legs. It has a pale foreneck and light brown face. The crown, back, breast and wings are dark brown to black, and the rest of the underparts are white with heavy black markings. All plumages are similar, except that juveniles are duller and have a less contrasted belly pattern.

Breeding

Nests have been reported in tree cavities, on branches, in clumps of bromeliads, and on the ground under thatch palms and other dense bushes. The usual clutch size is 10-16

egg An egg is an organic vessel grown by an animal to carry a possibly fertilized egg cell (a zygote) and to incubate from it an embryo within the egg until the embryo has become an animal fetus that can survive on its own, at which point the a ...

s. It habitually perches in trees, which gives rise to its specific name.

Diet and behavior

The birds are mostly

nocturnal Nocturnality is an animal behavior characterized by being active during the night and sleeping during the day. The common adjective is "nocturnal", versus diurnal meaning the opposite. Nocturnal creatures generally have highly developed sens ...

and secretive, inhabiting wooded

swamp A swamp is a forested wetland.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p. Swamps are considered to be transition zones because both land and water play a role in ...

s and mangroves, where this duck roosts and feeds on plant food including the fruit of the royal palm.

Threats

The West Indian whistling duck has suffered extensive hunting for its eggs and for sport.

Wetlands A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. The ...

are a very limited habitat in the

, with continuing conversion for development and agriculture. More than 50% of remaining wetlands are seriously degraded by the cutting of mangroves and swamp-forest, pollution (especially over-use of pesticides1) and natural catastrophes such as droughts and hurricanes. Predation is inadequately documented but may be a factor.

Current conservation measures

''D. arborea'' is ranked under CITES Appendix II, as well as

CMS CMS may refer to: Computing * Call management system * CMS-2 (programming language), used by the United States Navy * Code Morphing Software, a technology used by Transmeta * Collection management system for a museum collection * Color managem ...

Appendix II. It is legally protected throughout much of its range, but law enforcement is inadequate. The West Indian Whistling Duck Working Group initiated a conservation programme in 1997. There are several protected areas in the region but, in general, suitable habitat, especially wetlands, is under-represented. Ducks are predated on Antigua and Barbuda by the small Indian mongooses introduced to control the cane rats which was largely unsuccessful as the rats live in trees.

Proposed conservation measures

Conduct extensive surveys to assess numbers and distribution; assist local authorities in establishing a long-term monitoring programme; conserve key sites; enforce legal protection; initiate public education and awareness programmes.

References

* ''Wildfowl'' by Madge and Burn, * Staus, N.L. 1998. Behavior and natural history of the West Indian Whistling Duck on Long Island, Bahamas. ''Wildfowl'' 49: 194–206.

External links

BirdLife Species Factsheet.
birdlife.org * ARKive
images and movies of the West Indian whistling-duck ''(Dendrocygna arborea)''
{{Taxonbar, from=Q378192 West Indian whistling duck Endemic birds of the Caribbean Birds of the Dominican Republic Birds of Haiti West Indian whistling duck West Indian whistling duck