Birds

Plumed Whistling-Ducks

March 4, 2012 by Clare M 5 Comments

One of the most common ducks that you see in Broome are the Plumed Whistling-Ducks and they are exactly that! They have beautiful plumes and in flight they really do whistle. We often have them fly over our house and it’s an unmistakeable call. They are on the Golf Course or in the ponds at the Waste Water Treatment Plant-Poo Ponds-throughout the year, but once it rains they can be anywhere. We have even seen them in a puddle beside the road to the port! There are also Wandering Whistling-Ducks around Broome, but they are less common. They don’t have the pink legs and the plumes that they have are not upswept like those of the Plumed Whistling-Duck. We have a nice group of them near our home at the moment and they are enjoying all of the extra water that the Wet Season brings.

Plumed Whistling-Ducks

Juvenile Plumed Whistling-Ducks

Adult and juvenile Plumed Whistling-Ducks

We hope you like our Broome ducks!

Written by Clare M
Clare and her husband, Grant, have lived permanently in Broome, Western Australia since 1999 after living in various outback locations around Western Australia and Darwin. She has lived in the Middle East and the United States and traveled extensively in Europe. She monitors Pied Oystercatchers breeding along a 23km stretch of Broome's coastline by bicycle and on foot. She chooses not to participate in social media, but rather wander off into the bush for peace and tranquility. Thankfully she can write posts in advance and get away from technology!