Widow Whistling Goose

Widow Whistling Goose
Widow Whistling Goose ( Dendrocygna viduata )
Systematics
Class : Birds (aves) Order : Goose birds (Anseriformes) Family : Duck birds (Anatidae) Subfamily : Whistling Geese (Dendrocygninae) Genre : Dendrocygna Type : Widow Whistling Goose
Scientific name
Dendrocygna viduata
( Linnaeus , 1766)

The Witwenpfeifgans ( Dendrocygna viduata ) is a bird art from the subfamily of the Whistling Ducks . It is native to tropical South America and in the south of the Sahara nearby Africa and also comes on Madagascar before. The goose, which lives in troops and is predominantly nocturnal, inhabits nutrient-rich inland waters.

description

The 40 to 45 cm tall widow whistle goose is marked in white on the forehead and throat. The plumage on the back of the head and neck is black, while those on the neck and chest are maroon. The dorsal plumage is brownish with light edges. The flanks, however, are black with white bands. The beak is colored black, the feet are blue-gray. There is no difference between the sexes.

The widow whistle goose builds its nests in the bank vegetation or uses tree hollows. The female lays eight to twelve eggs, which are incubated by both parent birds for 28 days. The widow whistle goose eats parts of plants and small aquatic animals.

According to the IUCN, the widow whistle goose has a total population of 1.4-2.6 million animals. The species is therefore safe.

Systematics

Widow Whistling Goose

Widow Whistler Geese take a water bath

Dendrocygna viduata

The more precise relationships within the whistling geese look like this:

Whistling Geese (Dendrocygninae)

Whistling geese in the narrower sense (Dendrocygnini)     NN     NN    Spotted Whistler Goose ( D. guttata )      Kuba Whistler Goose ( D. arborea )   NN    Yellow Whistling Goose ( D. bicolor )      Plumed Whistling Duck ( D. eytoni )   NN    Peregrine Whistle Goose ( D. arcuata )      Pygmy Whistling Goose ( D. javanica )   NN    Widow Whistling Goose ( D. viduata )      Autumn Whistling Goose ( D. autumnalis )      White-backed Whistling Goose ( Thalassornis leuconotus )

literature

• T. Bartlett: Ducks And Geese - A Guide To Management . The Crowood Press, 2002, ISBN 1-85223-650-7
• Hartmut Kolbe: The world's ducks . Ulmer Verlag 1999, ISBN 3-8001-7442-1

Web links

Commons : Witwenpfeifgans  - Album with pictures, videos and audio files

• Dendrocygna viduata in the endangered Red List species the IUCN 2008. Posted by: BirdLife International, 2004. Retrieved on January 4 of 2009.
• Videos, photos and sound recordings of Dendrocygna viduata in the Internet Bird Collection
• SASOL Online Fieldguide to the Birds of Southern Africa - Widow Whistler Goose