Whistling duck

Whistling ducks
Black-bellied whistling duck
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Anseriformes
Family:	Anatidae
Subfamily:	Dendrocygninae Reichenbach, 1853
Tribe:	Dendrocygnini
Genus:	Dendrocygna Swainson, 1837
Type species
Anas arcuata Horsfield, 1824
Species
Dendrocygna arborea Dendrocygna arcuata Dendrocygna autumnalis Dendrocygna bicolor Dendrocygna eytoni Dendrocygna guttata Dendrocygna javanica Dendrocygna viduata

The whistling ducks or tree ducks are a subfamily, Dendrocygninae of the duck, goose and swan family of birds, Anatidae. They are not true ducks. In other taxonomic schemes, they are either considered a separate family Dendrocygnidae, or a tribe Dendrocygnini in the goose subfamily Anserinae. The subfamily has one genus, Dendrocygna, which contains eight living species, and one undescribed extinct species from Aitutaki of the Cook Islands.

Taxonomy and evolution

Whistling ducks were first described by Carl Linnaeus in the 10th edition of Systema Naturae in 1758: the black-bellied whistling duck (then Anas autumnalis) and the West Indian whistling duck (then Anas arborea).^[1] In 1837, William John Swainson named the genus Dendrocygna to distinguish whistling ducks from the other waterfowl.^[2] The type species was listed as the wandering whistling duck (D. arcuata), formerly named by Thomas Horsfield as Anas arcuata.^[3]

Whistling duck taxonomy, including that of the entire infraorder Anseriformes, is complicated and disputed.^[4] Under a traditional classification proposed by ornithologist Jean Théodore Delacour based on morphological and behavioral traits,^[5][6] whistling ducks belong to the tribe Dendrocygnini under the family Anatidae and subfamily Anserinae.^[6][7] Following the revisions by ornithologist Paul Johnsgard, Dendrocygnini includes the genus Thalassornis (the white-backed duck) under this system.^[7][8]

In 1997, Bradley C. Livezey proposed that Dendrocygna were a separate lineage from Anserinae, placing it and its tribe in its own subfamily, Dendrocygninae. Alternatively Charles Sibley and Jon Edward Ahlquist recommended placing Dendrocygna in its own family, Dendrocygnidae, which includes the genus Thalassornis.^[6][7]

Simplified Anseriformes phylogeny[9][10][11]  Anseriformes   Anatidae  Anatinae (dabbling ducks) Anserinae (swans and true geese) Oxyurinae (stiff-tailed ducks and allies) Dendrocygninae (whistling ducks) Anseranatidae (magpie-geese) Anhimidae (screamers)

Detailed Anatidae phylogeny[12]  Anatidae   other Anatidae  other Anatinae  all Anserinae  Oxyurinae, Nettapus, Malacorhynchus, Salvadorina  D. arcuata   D. javanica   Stictonetta   D. bicolor   D. eytoni   D. arborea   D. guttata   Thalassornis   D. autumnalis   D. viduata  Dendrocygninae Stictonettinae Dendrocygninae Thalassorninae Dendrocygninae

Species

Eight species of whistling duck are currently recognized in the genus Dendrocygna. However, Johnsgard considers the white-backed duck (Thalassornis leuconotus) from Africa and Madagascar to be distinct ninth species,^[13] a view first proposed in 1960 and initially supported by behavioral similarities. Later, similarities in anatomy, duckling vocalizations, and feather proteins gave additional support.^[8] Molecular analysis in 2009 also suggested that the white-backed duck was nested within the whistling duck clade.^[12] In addition to the extant species, subfossil remains of an extinct, undescribed species have been found on Aitutaki of the Cook Islands.^[14]

Scientific name	Common name	Authority	Conservation status	Image
D. arborea	West Indian whistling duck	Linnaeus, 1758	Vulnerable
D. arcuata	Wandering whistling duck	Horsfield, 1824	Least concern
D. autumnalis	Black-bellied whistling duck	Linnaeus, 1758	Least concern
D. bicolor	Fulvous whistling duck	Vieillot, 1816	Least concern
D. eytoni	Plumed whistling duck	Eyton, 1838	Least concern
D. guttata	Spotted whistling duck	Schlegel, 1866	Least concern
D. javanica	Lesser whistling duck	Horsfield, 1821	Least concern
D. viduata	White-faced whistling duck	Linnaeus, 1766	Least concern

Description

Whistling ducks are found in the tropics and subtropics. As their name implies, they have distinctive whistling calls.

The whistling ducks have long legs and necks, and are very gregarious, flying to and from night-time roosts in large flocks. Both sexes have the same plumage, and all have a hunched appearance and black underwings in flight.

References

1. Linnaeus 1758, p. 127–128.
2. Swainson 1837, p. 365.
3. Eyton 1838, p. 28.
4. Donne-Goussé, Laudet & Hänni 2002, p. 339.
5. Johnsgard 1965, p. 14.
6. Donne-Goussé, Laudet & Hänni 2002, pp. 340.
7. Donne-Goussé, Laudet & Hänni 2002, pp. 353–354.
8. Johnsgard 2010b, p. 26.
9. Donne-Goussé, Laudet & Hänni 2002, p. 348.
10. Gonzalez, Düttmann & Wink 2009, p. 313.
11. Pereira & Baker 2009, p. 416.
12. Eo, Bininda-Emonds & Carroll 2009, pp. 471–472.
13. Johnsgard 2010a, p. 41.
14. Steadman 2006, pp. 213 & 218.

Literature cited

• Donne-Goussé, C.; Laudet, V.; Hänni, C. (2002). "A molecular phylogeny of anseriformes based on mitochondrial DNA analysis". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 23 (3): 339–356. doi:10.1016/S1055-7903(02)00019-2. PMID 12099792.
• Eo, S.H.; Bininda-Emonds, O.R.P.; Carroll, J.P. (2009). "A phylogenetic supertree of the fowls (Galloanserae, Aves)" (PDF). Zoologica Scripta 38 (5): 465–481. doi:10.1111/j.1463-6409.2008.00382.x.
• Eyton, T.C. (1838). A Monograph on the Anatidae Or Duck Tribe. London: Longman, Orme, Brown, Green, & Longman. p. 183. doi:10.5962/bhl.title.51971.
• Gonzalez, J.; Düttmann, H.; Wink, M. (2009). "Phylogenetic relationships based on two mitochondrial genes and hybridization patterns in Anatidae". Journal of Zoology 279 (3): 310–318. doi:10.1111/j.1469-7998.2009.00622.x.
• Johnsgard, P.A. (1965). "Tribe Dendrocygnini (Whistling Ducks)". Handbook of Waterfowl Behavior. Ithaca: Cornell University Press. p. 378.
• Johnsgard, P.A. (2010a). "Whistling Ducks: Tribe Dendrocygnini". Waterfowl of North America, Revised Edition. Lincoln: University of Nebraska–Lincoln Libraries. p. 575.
• Johnsgard, P.A. (2010b). "Tribe Dendrocygnini (Whistling or Tree Ducks)". Ducks, Geese, and Swans of the World. Lincoln: University of Nebraska–Lincoln Libraries. p. 404.
• Linnaeus, C. (1758). Systema Naturæ (Tenth ed.). Stockholm, Sweden: Laurentius Salvius. p. 825.
• Pereira, S.L.; Baker, A.J. (2009). "Waterfowl and gamefowl (Galloanserae)". In Hedges, S.B.; Kumar, S. The Timetree of Life (PDF). Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 576. ISBN 978-0-19-160898-8.
• Steadman, D.W. (2006). Extinction and Biogeography of Tropical Pacific Islands Birds. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. p. 594. ISBN 0-226-77142-3.
• Swainson, W. (1837). On the Natural History and Classification of Birds 2. London: Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, Green & Longman. p. 398.

External links

• Media related to Dendrocygna at Wikimedia Commons