Animalia Life

Dendrocygna viduata
SUBFAMILY
Dendrocygninae
TAXONOMY
Anas viduata Linnaeus, 1766, Cartagena, Colombia. Monotypic.
OTHER COMMON NAMES
English: White-faced tree duck; French: Dendrocygne veuf; German: Witwenpfeifgans; Spanish: Suirirн Cariblanco.
PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS
15–19 in (38–48 cm); 1.1–1.8 lb (502–820 g). Brown and gray feathers with dark neck and eponymous white face.
DISTRIBUTION
Throughout tropical America from Costa Rica south through northern and eastern Colombia and Guyana in east; in south from eastern Bolivia east to Uruguay; Trinidad. In Africa south of the Sahara to Namibia and Natal; Madagascar; Comoro Islands.
HABITAT
Freshwater marshes, grassy lagoons, and flooded fields.
BEHAVIOR
Not territorial. Move regionally as a response to varying water levels.
FEEDING ECOLOGY AND DIET
Forages mainly at night by diving; also wades and dabbles near surface. Feeds on grasses, seeds, rice, and invertebrates.
REPRODUCTIVE BIOLOGY
Perennially monogamous. Breeds during rainy season. Wellconcealed nests made on the ground. Lay 4–13 eggs; incubation 26–28 days; fledging c. 8 weeks.
CONSERVATION STATUS
Not threatened. Common throughout range.
SIGNIFICANCE TO HUMANS
None known.

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