Dendrocygna arborea
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~20%
The West Indian whistling duck (Dendrocygna arborea) is a whistling duck that breeds in the Caribbean. Alternative names are black-billed whistling duck and Cuban whistling duck. The West Indian whistling duck was formally described in 1758 by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae under the binomial name Anas arborea. Linnaeus based his account on the descriptions by earlier authors. In 1725 the Irish physician, naturalist and collector Hans Sloane had described and illustrated the "Whistling-Duck" in the second volume of his A Voyage to the Islands Madera, Barbados, Nieves, S. Christophers and Jamaica. Sloane noted that it was common on the island of Jamaica. The English naturalist George Edwards had included a description and a hand-coloured illustration of the "Black-bill'd whistling Duck" in the fourth volume of his A Natural History of Uncommon Birds that was published in 1751. Edwards had been able to examine a specimen at the home of Admiral Sir Charles Wager at Stanley House in Chelsea, west London.
The West Indian whistling duck is now one of eight species placed in the genus Dendrocygna that was introduced in 1837... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Los Haitises National Park | 🇩🇴 Dominican Republic | |
| 2 | Ciénaga de Zapata | 🇨🇺 Cuba |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Santo Domingo | 🇩🇴 Dominican Republic |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Parc des oiseaux | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 2 | Zoo Miami | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Dallas Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Gatorland | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | Little Rock Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 6 | Parco Zoo Punta Verde | 🇮🇹 Italy | |
| 7 | Jardín Zoológico El Bosque | 🇨🇺 Cuba | |
| 8 | Randers Tropical Zoo | 🇩🇰 Denmark | |
| 9 | Bermuda Aquarium, Museum and Zoo | 🇧🇲 Bermuda | |
| 10 | Wild Discovery Zoo | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a West Indian Whistling-Duck sighting in Ciénaga de Zapata on a given day, based on 49 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 129th most-seen of the 177 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 20%, if each day is a fresh chance.
May
In that month about 20% of wildlife watchers report a West Indian Whistling-Duck in Ciénaga de Zapata on a given day, against under 5% in February–April, June and December, the lowest months. That is one of Ciénaga de Zapata's wettest months, with about 130 mm of rain against 15 mm in February. September has too few records to rate.
Between 2 and 5 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most West Indian Whistling-Duck sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
2nd of 2
Of the 2 parks where we can rate West Indian Whistling-Duck sightings, Ciénaga de Zapata ranks 2nd at under 5%. The best odds are in Los Haitises National Park (Dominican Republic, about 20%).
Same family: Anatidae
The closest relatives of the West Indian Whistling-Duck that you can see in Ciénaga de Zapata (family Anatidae, Ducks, Geese, and Swans) are Blue-winged Teal (about 20%), Lesser Scaup (about 10%) and American Wigeon (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the West Indian Whistling-Duck is recorded against all the birds logged in Ciénaga de Zapata (49 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
