Fulvous Whistling Duck
Identification Tips:
Length: 13 inches Wingspan: 36 inches
Large, long-legged, long-necked duck
Sexes similar
Adult:
Dark bill
Dark legs
Rich buff head, neck, chest and belly
Black back with chestnut edging to feathers
White flank stripe
White rump and undertail coverts
Dark tail
Wings dark with chestnut upperwing coverts visible in flight
Immature:
Like adult, but duller with less contrast between back and rump
Similar species:
Adult unmistakable. Immature could be confused with immature Black-bellied Whistling-Duck, but note the dark rump, white wing stripe, and the lack of white flank stripe in the latter.
Black-bellied Whistling Duck
Identification Tips:
Length: 13 inches Wingspan: 37 inches
Large, long-legged, long-necked duck
Sexes similar
Adult:
Bright orange bill
Pink legs
Gray face and upper neck with white eye ring
Chestnut cap, nape, lower neck, chest and back
Black belly
White secondary coverts and white bases to the black primaries and secondaries creates a long wing stripe in flight and a visible pale patch at rest
Leading edge of wing chestnut like body
Immature:
Dark gray bill
Dark gray legs
Paler brown body plumage
Gray belly
Similar species:
Immature Fulvous Whistling-Duck could be confused with an immature Black-bellied Whistling-Duck, but has a white flank stripe, dark wings without a wing stripe and a pale rump patch.
The trailing legs and rounded wings of these slow flying ducks makes them look bigger than they are.
Both species are primarily Mexican. In the U. S., the black-bellied is found only in south Texas and Louisiana. The fulvous also occurs there and in Florida with occasional stragglers further north along both coasts and the Mississippi Valley. The fulvous is the more common of the two species in the United States. Sexes are alike. Both species have shrill whistling calls.
