Plumed Whistling Duck

41-62 cm. Elegant, erect pale brown duck with patchy pink bill, long pink legs and upswept cream flank plumes; sides of chest reddish, finely barred darker. Immature: paler, duller. Parties to dense flocks form regular daytime camps, flying out at dusk to feed on green grasses and seeds, returning at dawn. Wingbeats slow, with characteristic wing-whistle; silhouette humped, legs trailing. Note brown underwing, pale underparts, trailing pink legs. In wet season (n. Aust.) and winter/spring in se. Aust., pairs disperse to feed in shallow wetlands: they dabble and upend but seldom dive; swim with head high, flank plumes upswept.