Where does lesser Whistling Duck usually live?
Where does lesser Whistling Duck usually live?
This is a largely resident species distributed widely across lowland wetlands of the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia. The species also occur on islands in the region including the Andamans, Nicobars and Maldives. They sometimes make local movements in response to weather and changes in water availability and the more northern birds winter further south. They are found in freshwater wetlands with good vegetation cover and often rest during the day on the banks or even on the open sea in coastal areas. Downy chicks are black with a white eyebrow and white patches on the back of the head, the wing, lower back and rump. Albino individuals have been seen in the wild. Large numbers are sometimes found in urban wetlands such as in Kolkata and Goa, particularly during winter. In the Alipore Zoological Gardens, captive individuals were introduced in the 1930s and wild birds joined this nucleus subsequently. With a wide distribution range between 1 and 10 million km², they are considered to have a secure global population of between two and twenty million individuals. They are not threatened by hunting as they are not considered good to eat. Hunters in Assam however have been known to raise the ducklings to serve as live decoy.
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Photo By Lip Kee , used under CC-BY-SA-2.0 /Cropped and compressed from original
Scientific Classification
Phylum
Chordates Class
Birds Order
Waterfowl Family
Geese Genus
Whistling-ducks Species
Lesser Whistling Duck