+61 4 8844 2269

Whistling Ducks -Dendrocygna sp.

by | Jan 20, 2018 | Wildlife of the Top End

Whistling ducks, ethical adventures tours from Darwin

Whistling Ducks

Whistling ducks at Fogg Dam with ethical adventures, Day tours from Darwin, Darwin shore excursions

A great place to see Whistling ducks is at Fogg Dam where ethical adventures visits on two tours from Darwin.

The Australian species include:

  • Wandering Whistling-duck (Dendrocygna arcuate)

  • Plumed Whistling-duck (Dendrocygna eytoni)

  • Spotted Whistling Duck (Dendrocygna guttata)

To the ancient Greeks these birds were known as TREE SWANS (Dendron – tree, Cynus -swan) but to us we can call them Whistling Ducks.  Why? Because they all make a high pitched whistle sound when in flight (although calling them ducks is apparently not correct as they have in recent times been given their own branch on the old bird evolution tree).

Boys and girls look the same but between the 3 species there are some key differences. Notably the Spotted WD has spots which the others don’t.  The Plumed WD has erect plumage on the flanks which the others don’t and the Wandering WD has a darker brown crown than the PWD.

Common in the Top End are the Plumed and Wandering varieties with the Spotted Whistling Duck being recorded as more of a vagrant rather than a local.

For tucker:

Whistling Ducks at Fogg Dam, with ethical adventures, tours from Darwin, Darwin Shore excursions

Plumed – Rather than diving for food in bodies of water like other ducks, the plumed whistling duck feeds by cropping grass on land and dabbling at the surface of the water

Spotted – grass seeds, vegetable matter and small snails

Wandering – Feed almost entirely on tropical grasses, bulbs, rushes, insects and other small aquatic animals.

Images taken at Fogg Dam – Wandering Whistling Duck

Relevant tours include:

Wetlands & Wildlife

Best in the Wet