Plumed Whistling Ducks are formerly known as Eyton's or Plumed Tree Duck. They live in Northern and Eastern Australia (where it is known as the Grass Whistling Duck) and Tasmania, occasionally reported in New Zealand. They prefer tropical grasslands along rivers and swamps. Sexes alike. This species is named for its long, buff flank feathers. The head and breast are light olive-brown; the sides are chestnut, barred with black. The bill is red and spotted with black; legs and feet dark pink. They are the only whistling ducks with orange-yelow eyes. Eyton's whistling ducks only feed at night and in small groups and mainly feed on grass, rice, reed etc which they find on the marsh fringes and on grassy plains. In the daytime the ducks rest in the lagunas, marshes and watersheds in larger groups. In the wild, the breeding season is from September to December; in captivity from April to June. They breed from the second year, sometimes first year. Drakes can become a bit aggressive towards other (whistling) ducks during the mating season. They continually threaten then and sometimes even fight. As all whistling ducks, they prefer to breed in nestboxes. Plumed Whistling ducks lay 10 to 12 eggs which hatch after 27-28 days. The ringsize is 12 milimeters. You may ring the ducklings when they are 16 days old. This species has a large range, with an estimated global Extent of Occurrence of 100,000-1,000,000 km². It has a large global population estimated to be 100,000-1,000,000 individuals (Wetlands International 2002). Global population trends have not been quantified, but the species is not believed to approach the thresholds for the population decline criterion of the IUCN Red List (i.e. declining more than 30% in ten years or three generations). For these reasons, the species is evaluated as Least Concern.