Dendrocygna viduata
Silhouette: Kai Caspar · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~30%
The white-faced whistling duck (Dendrocygna viduata) is a whistling duck that breeds in sub-Saharan Africa and much of South America. This species is gregarious, and at favoured sites, the flocks of a thousand or more birds arriving at dawn are an impressive sight. As the name implies, these are noisy birds with a clear three-note whistling call.
The white-faced whistling duck was formally described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in the 1766 twelfth edition of his Systema Naturae, under the binomial name Anas viduata. He specified the type locality as Cartagena in Colombia. The white-faced whistling duck is now one of eight species placed in the genus Dendrocygna that was introduced in 1837 by the English naturalist William Swainson. The species is considered as monotypic: no subspecies are recognised. The genus name combines the Ancient Greek dendron, meaning "tree", with the genus name Cygnus, meaning "swan" in Latin. The specific epithet viduata is Latin and means "widowed" or "in mourning".
The white-faced whistling duck has a long grey bill, a long head, and longish legs. It has a black neck and head, and a distinctive white face that... Wikipedia →
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Antananarivo | 🇲🇬 Madagascar | |
| 2 | Mombasa | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 3 | Abuja | 🇳🇬 Nigeria | |
| 4 | N'Djamena | 🇹🇩 Chad | |
| 5 | Zanzibar City | 🇹🇿 Tanzania | |
| 6 | Serrekunda | 🇬🇲 Gambia | |
| 7 | Kigali | 🇷🇼 Rwanda | |
| 8 | Dakar | 🇸🇳 Senegal | |
| 9 | Dar es-Salaam | 🇹🇿 Tanzania | |
| 10 | Santa Cruz de la Sierra | 🇧🇴 Bolivia |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Disney's Animal Kingdom | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | SeaWorld Orlando | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Busch Gardens Tampa | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | San Diego Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | Pairi Daiza | 🇧🇪 Belgium | |
| 6 | National Zoological Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 7 | Shedd Aquarium | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 8 | Leipzig Zoological Garden | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 9 | Cleveland Metroparks Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 10 | Zürich Zoo | 🇨🇭 Switzerland | |
| 11 | Antwerp Zoo | 🇧🇪 Belgium | |
| 12 | Parque das Aves | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 13 | North Carolina Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 14 | Zlín-Lešná Zoo | 🇨🇿 Czechia | |
| 15 | Ostrava Zoo | 🇨🇿 Czechia | |
| 16 | Dvůr Králové Zoo | 🇨🇿 Czechia | |
| 17 | Zoo Pilsen | 🇨🇿 Czechia | |
| 18 | Réserve africaine de Sigean | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 19 | Walsrode World Bird Park | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 20 | Parc des oiseaux | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 21 | Abilene Zoological Gardens | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 22 | Zoo Miami | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 23 | San Diego Zoo Safari Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 24 | Minnesota Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 25 | Safari West | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 26 | Watatunga Wildlife Reserve | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 27 | Columbus Zoo and Aquarium | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 28 | Bronx Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 29 | SeaWorld San Antonio | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 30 | Badoca Safari Park | 🇵🇹 Portugal | |
| 31 | Planète Sauvage | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 32 | Brookfield Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 33 | Parc zoologique de Montpellier | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 34 | Curitiba Zoo | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 35 | Sedgwick County Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 36 | Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 37 | Cotswold Wildlife Park | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 38 | Los Angeles Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 39 | Oakland Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 40 | Dallas Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 41 | Slimbridge Wetland Centre | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 42 | Phoenix Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 43 | Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 44 | Wildlife World Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 45 | São Paulo Zoo | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 46 | Parc animalier de Gramat | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 47 | Audubon Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 48 | Hellabrunn Zoo | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 49 | Oklahoma City Zoo and Botanical Garden | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 50 | Berlin Zoological Garden | 🇩🇪 Germany |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a White-faced Whistling Duck sighting in Ruaha National Park on a given day, based on 14 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 208th most-seen of the 276 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 30%, if each day is a fresh chance.
January–February, April–May and July
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a White-faced Whistling Duck in Ruaha National Park on a given day, against under 5% in March, June and August–December, the lowest months.
Between 9 am and noon
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most White-faced 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.
39th of 53
Of the 53 parks where we can rate White-faced Whistling Duck sightings, Ruaha National Park ranks 39th at about 10%. The best odds are in Amboseli National Park (Kenya, about 50%), Liwonde National Park (Malawi, about 40%) and Ankarafantsika National Park (Madagascar, about 40%). All parks ranked.
Same family: Anatidae
The closest relatives of the White-faced Whistling Duck that you can see in Ruaha National Park (family Anatidae, Ducks, Geese, and Swans) are Egyptian Goose (about 40%), Comb Duck (about 20%) and Spur-winged Goose (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the White-faced Whistling Duck is recorded against all the birds logged in Ruaha National Park (14 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.
