Black-bellied Whistling-Duck
- Family
- Anatidae
- Conservation status (IUCN)
- Least Concern 4
Where and when to see the Black-bellied Whistling-Duck
DraftOn the Yucatán Peninsula
It lives on lagoons, ponds, marshes, flooded pastures and farm fields, usually in noisy groups. Look for it perched in dead trees by the water, or follow its whistles as flocks fly over.
Where it’s reported most
- San GervasioCozumel, Quintana Roo
- Ría LagartosRío Lagartos, Yucatán
- Poniente Ecological ParkMérida, Yucatán
- HampololCampeche, Campeche
When
All year · most reports Jun–Sep
Most reports from June to September.
Reports relative to effort
- January: 37%
- February: 41%
- March: 42%
- April: 45%
- May: 53%
- June: 93%
- July: 100%
- August: 93%
- September: 76%
- October: 66%
- November: 45%
- December: 37%
Data: eBird and other datasets via GBIF.org (CC BY 4.0), 2015–2026 · Base map: Natural Earth
Gathers in flocks at marshes, flooded fields and lagoon edges, often perching in trees and nesting in tree holes. Its high whistles, often heard at night, give the flock away.
- Identification
- A gangly, long-necked, long-legged duck with a bright pink-red bill and pink legs, a chestnut body, a black belly and a grey face with a white eye-ring. A broad white wing stripe shows best in flight. Young birds have grey bills and legs.
- Voice
- Noisy, especially in flight: a high, wheezy whistle of several notes, “pe-che-che-ne”.
What the photo doesn’t show
DraftDucks in the trees
Unlike most ducks, it perches in trees and usually nests in tree holes. It also moves readily into nest boxes. 1,2
Partners for life
Pairs usually stay together for life, as geese and swans do, and both parents incubate the eggs and raise the ducklings. 1,2,3
The first jump
Within two days of hatching, the ducklings jump from the tree hole to the ground. They can feed themselves straight away and stay with their parents for up to eight weeks. 3
Dinner after the harvest
It often feeds at night, gleaning seeds in harvested fields of corn, rice or sorghum. Its scientific name, autumnalis, “of autumn”, is linked to this habit of feeding in fields after the harvest. 1,3
Sources
- Birds of the World (Cornell Lab): Black-bellied Whistling-Duck (opens in a new tab)
- All About Birds: Black-bellied Whistling-Duck (opens in a new tab)
- Wikipedia: Black-bellied whistling duck (opens in a new tab)
- IUCN Red List category, via GBIF: Dendrocygna autumnalis (opens in a new tab)
Map and months: 4,992 records from 2015–2026 from eBird, Inventario de aves y mamíferos en humedales de Laguna de Términos y Pantanos de Centla en Tabasco y Campeche, and others, via GBIF.org (CC BY 4.0), in 0.1° squares (about 10 km). eBird: doi.org/10.15468/aomfnb.
Months: the species’ records ÷ all bird records that month, scaled to the busiest month. It allows for birding effort; it is not the chance of seeing it. A blank square: few or no reports, not necessarily absent.
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