White-faced Whistling-Duck

How to find it

Start in the wetlands of the lower Tempisque River basin, where the common Black-bellied Whistling-Duck also lives. Check every flock for the white face. Scan exposed mud, shallow water and the edges of water plants, since it rests there by day and may be hidden. Because flocks fly at night and at dusk, listen for whistles overhead around dusk too. Remember it walks or swims, so check the ground and the water rather than the branches.

How to recognise it

The face is the whole story. It is white and stands out sharply against the black head and the black back of the neck.

Below that, look for these marks:

Mid-neck and chest: chestnut.

Flanks: barred black and white.

Bill: all black.

It is the smallest and least tree-loving of the whistling-ducks in Costa Rica. The white face and forehead on a black head make it easy to tell from other whistling-ducks in the genus Dendrocygna.

What it sounds like

Recording: Eduardo Luis Beltrocco, CC BY 4.0, source, read 4 Nov 2026.

Behaviour and diet

It feeds mostly at night, so the day is for resting. In Costa Rica it rests in shallow water, on exposed mud along the shore, or hidden among water plants.

It is a bird that walks or swims and does not perch in trees, so look for it on the ground or on the water.

Across its range it is sociable and is seen in large groups, often mixed with other ducks. It filters food from shallow water.

Where it lives

In Costa Rica it lives in freshwater marshes and on exposed mud at pond and lagoon edges. It is often seen with Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks, which are the common pijije.

The remaining birds have been found mainly in the lower Tempisque River basin and the San Gerónimo lagoons at Colorado de Abangares.

Across its whole range it lives from sea level up to about 1000 m, in lagoons, lakes, marshes, flooded fields and rivers, favouring tall grass and shallow edges.

Similar birds

The Black-bellied Whistling-Duck, the common piche in the same Tempisque wetlands, is the bird most likely to be in the flock with it. That bird has a pink-orange bill, while this species has an all-black bill. Look for the white face and forehead on a black head.

Names and lore in Costa Rica

In Costa Rica the bird is called pijije cariblanco or piche careto. Costa Ricans use "piche" as slang for the common Black-bellied Whistling-Duck.

Status and conservation

The official Costa Rican bird list marks it R?, resident with a question mark, and recent reports put its numbers extremely low.