The Fulvous Whistling Duck (Dendrocygna bicolor) is a wetlands bird, a waterfowl in the Anatidae family of ducks, geese, and swans. It is also known as the Fulvous Tree Duck. It has a whistling call.

The Fulvous Whistling Duck has reddish-brown feathers with a darker back, long legs, and a long grey beak. It has a white band across its black tail. It has a humped back and long neck.

It measures 45–53 centimetres (18–21 inches) in length. 

The Fulvous Whistling Duck has a large range, native to South America, Mexico, the West Indies, southern America, sub-Saharan Africa, and India. It prefers tropical regions and wetlands, such as shallow lakes. 

It feeds during the day or night on seeds and plants. In water, it upends to find food, but it does not dive into the water. It flies at low altitudes. 

The Fulvous Whistling Duck is usually found in small groups. 

It makes a nest built from plant material and unlined in a dense vegetation or in a tree hole. The female lays around 10 whitish eggs. Both parents take turns to incubate the eggs (to sit on the eggs). The eggs hatch after 24–29 days. 

The downy grey ducklings leave the nest after a day or two, but the parents continue to protect them until they gain all of their flight feathers, after around 63 days.

It lives, on average, for 6-7 years. 

Location of photographs: Kenya and Parc Zoologique de Paris in Bois de Vincennes, France

Photographer: Martina Nicolls

Martina Nicolls: SIMILAR BUT DIFFERENT IN THE ANIMAL KINGDOM