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Lesser whistling duck
सिलही (silhi)
A small brown duck with a long neck and an upright stance that whistles constantly in flight and gathers in dense rafts on winter lakes.
How to recognise it
Listen for a thin two-note whistle overhead at dusk. The birds sit packed shoulder to shoulder, and the whole raft lifts at once.
Where to see it
Kochi
Vembanad-Kol is a Ramsar site, and January Asian Waterbird Counts here have recorded over twenty thousand waterbirds of thirty-odd species in a single season.
Kadamakkudy Islands (in season) · Cherai Beach
Kolkata
Santragachi Jheel is a small urban lake beside a railway yard that becomes one of eastern India's densest wintering duck sites. A published census recorded 27 waterbird species there, with the lesser whistling duck making up the great majority.
Santragachi Jheel · Rabindra Sarobar (in season) · Eco Park (Prakriti Tirtha) (in season)
Mayapur
Surveys at Chupi Char in 2019–2022 found it the most numerous of the 145 bird species recorded there, well ahead of any other.
Chupi Char, Purbasthali