Two red-billed ducks resting on green grass, with one duck in sharp focus and the other blurred in the background.

Black-bellied whistling duck

Black-bellied whistling ducks are native to the neotropics in Central America and northern South America, and can be found in freshwater wetlands, marshes, ponds and flooded fields.

Black-bellied whistling duckDendrocygna autumnalis

  • Class:

    Aves

  • Order:

    Anseriformes

  • Family:

    Anatidae

About the black-bellied whistling duck

Black-bellied whistling ducks live in flocks of 10 - 100 individuals and predominantly eat seeds, grains, aquatic plants and occasionally invertebrates. They have a gestation period of 25-30 days, often laying clutches of 13-16 eggs at a time, and can live for 10-15 years.

You can find our flock of black-bellied whistling ducks in the lake at the zoo.

Conservation

Black-bellied whistling ducks have few major threats, and therefore are listed as Least Concern on the IUC Red List, however their populations do suffer from habitat loss and local hunting

Interesting facts