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Leucistic White-faced Whistling-Duck Documented in Madagascar

A leucistic white-faced whistling-duck beside a normally coloured bird at Tsimbazaza Park
Research · Anatomy & morphology

A free-ranging white-faced whistling-duck (Dendrocygna viduata) with extensive white plumage has provided Madagascar’s first peer-reviewed scientific record of leucism in the species. The adult was observed in a group of five white-faced whistling-ducks on the waterbody at Tsimbazaza Botanical and Zoological Park in Antananarivo.

White plumage but dark eyes distinguished leucism

Leucism is a pigmentation anomaly in which feathers lose some or all of their normal colour because melanin is absent locally. It differs from albinism because the eyes are not necessarily affected. In the Tsimbazaza bird, the eyes remained dark.

The bird had completely white feathers across the back, scapulars and most of the wings, as well as unusually white legs. White extended farther down the neck than in normally coloured birds, and the tip of the bill was also pale. The researchers classified the pattern as “brown leucism”, in which phaeomelanin — the pigment that contributes reddish-brown and yellow-brown tones — is lost while darker brown and black eumelanin is retained.

Behaviour appeared normal during the two-hour observation

During two hours of observation, the leucistic duck swam, fed at the surface and rested on the bank. It moved freely, showed no signs of being tame or captive, and displayed no motor or behavioural abnormalities. It also appeared fully integrated with the other ducks and was not visibly rejected by the group. Leucism can potentially affect camouflage, species recognition or sexual selection, but no such social or behavioural effect was apparent during this short observation.

Similar birds raise a genetic hypothesis

Leucism can arise through several mechanisms, including genetic mutations, inbreeding, environmental stress or disruption of pigment metabolism. The study did not establish the cause in this individual. The authors nevertheless noted that similarly patterned white-faced whistling-ducks have been reported informally elsewhere in Madagascar, including two birds at nearby Alarobia Lake in 2019 and at least five photographic records on iNaturalist.

The consistency of these patterns led the researchers to suggest that a recurring mutation or heritable allele may occur in Madagascar’s population, rather than every observation representing an unrelated developmental accident. They stress that regular monitoring and inventories, including in urban wetlands, are needed to determine how often the anomaly occurs and whether it has ecological consequences.

Sources and image credit

  1. Rasolonjatovo, D., Seraphin, F., Armand, B., & Pruvot, Y. Z. M. (2026). Peer-reviewed documentation of leucism in white-faced whistling duck Dendrocygna viduata, in Madagascar. Sustainable Environment, 12(1), 2679843. https://doi.org/10.1080/27658511.2026.2679843Primary peer-reviewed open-access brief report published online 26 May 2026. The authors documented a free-ranging leucistic White-faced Whistling-Duck at Tsimbazaza Botanical and Zoological Park in Antananarivo, described the plumage anomaly and behaviour during a two-hour observation, and discussed similar informal records elsewhere in Madagascar.

Image: Delphin Rasolonjatovo et al. / Sustainable Environment — Figure 1, leucistic White-faced Whistling-Duck beside a normally coloured conspecific at Tsimbazaza Park, Antananarivo; image from the study · CC BY 4.0 · Source

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