Indian whistling duck
Facts about this animal
A typical tree duck with squarish head, long legs, rounded and broad wings, and an erect goose-like posture when alert. There is no obvious sexual dimorphism and no special breeding plumage. The body-weight ranges from 450 to 600 g.
Nest sites are variable. 6 to 10 white eggs are laid, which are incubated by both, female and male, for 27 to 28 days.
Indian whistling ducks feed on water plants by dabbling on the water surface in shallow water, or by diving. They feed mostly at night, in small family groups.
Did you know?
that, in Singapore, the Indian whistling duck is the only breeding species of the Anatidae family? They were never common in Singapore, and with not more than 200 left, are now rated locally endangered. Main threats are habitat loss, disturbance and poaching.
|Name (Scientific)||Dendrocygna javanica|
|Name (English)||Indian whistling duck|
|Name (French)||Dendrocygne siffleur|
|Name (Spanish)||Suirirí de Java|
|Local names||Bahasa: Langkang, Terkadang|
|CITES Status||Not listed|
|CMS Status||Appendix II (as Anatidae spp.)|
Photo Copyright by
J. M Garg
|Range||South and East Asia: Bangladesh, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand, Viet Nam with vagrants to Israel and the Maldives.|
|Wild population||Global population estimates are pretty vague and range from 200,000 to 2,000,000 individuals (Wetlands International 2002).|
|Zoo population||93 reported to ISIS (2006).|
In the Zoo
How this animal should be transported
For air transport, Container Note 18 of the IATA Live Animals Regulations should be followed.
Find this animal on ZooLex
Why do zoos keep this animal
The Indian whistling duck is not a threatened species. Zoos keep them for educational purposes e.g. in themed South or South-East Asian exhibits, and as an ambassador species for wetland conservation.