White-backed duck
Thalassornis leuconotus Eyton, 1838
The white-backed duck (Thalassornis leuconotus) is a species in the family Anatidae, order Anseriformes. Recorded adults weigh 695 g to 720 g. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.
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Quick facts about the white-backed duck
- Weight
- 695 g – 720 gsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Lifespan
- Not recorded
- Diet
- Herbivoresrc for Diet
- Longest recorded lifespan
- 12 years
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- wetlandsrc for Habitat
- Egg incubation
- 36 dayssrc for Egg incubation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 6.75 – 7src for Young per litter or clutch
- Litters or clutches a year
- 1src for Litters or clutches a year
- Lifestyle
- Aquaticsrc for Lifestyle
- Migration
- Sedentarysrc for Migration
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
Where does the white-backed duck live?
Not recorded
What is the white-backed duck?
The white-backed duck (Thalassornis leuconotus) is a waterbird of the family Anatidae. It is distinct from all other ducks, but most closely related to the whistling ducks in the subfamily Dendrocygninae, though also showing some similarities to the stiff-tailed ducks in the subfamily Oxyurinae. It is the only member of the genus Thalassornis.
From the Wikipedia article “White-backed duck” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=White-backed_duck&oldid=1379689819), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
Is the white-backed duck endangered?
The white-backed duck is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species. What the categories mean.
How is the white-backed duck classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classAves
- orderAnseriformes
- familyAnatidae
- genusThalassornis
- SpeciesThalassornis leuconotus Eyton, 1838
Synonyms Clangula leuconota
Other names and names in other languages (39)
- WBDUEnglish
- بط أبيض الظهرArabic
- Houad kein gwennBreton
- ànec cabussetCatalan
- kačenka bělohřbetáCzech
- husička krátkoocasáCzech
- hwyaden gefnwenWelsh
- LappedykkerandDanish
- WeißrückenenteGerman
- Weißrücken-PfeifgansGerman
- WeißrückenpfeifgansGerman
- blankdorsa anasoEsperanto
- Pato dorsiblancoSpanish
- püttpartEstonian
- lampisorsaFinnish
- Canard à dos blancFrench
- Dendrocygne à dos blancFrench
- Lacha bhroimbhánIrish
- ברווז לבן-גבHebrew
- mala utvaCroatian
- vöcsökréceHungarian
- Anatra dorsobiancoItalian
- コシジロガモJapanese
- baltanugarė antisLithuanian
- BelohaMalagasy
- witrugeendDutch
- hvitryggandNorwegian
- pokraczkaPolish
- pato-de-dorso-brancoPortuguese
- Белоспинная уткаRussian
- stromárka jarabáSlovak
- Beloleđa patkaSerbian
- Vitryggad andSwedish
- vitryggig andSwedish
- Ak Sırtlı ÖrdekTurkish
- seHudiTswana
- стромяркаUkrainian
- 白背鴨Chinese
- 白背鸭Chinese
Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistWikidataWoRMSIUCN Red List
Relatives of the white-backed duck
Other species in the same family Anatidae.
Mallard
Anas platyrhynchos
Greylag goose
Anser anser
Northern pintail
Anas acuta
Mute swan
Cygnus olor
Eurasian teal
Anas crecca
Ruddy shelduck
Tadorna ferruginea
CompareWhite-backed duck vs MallardWhite-backed duck vs Greylag gooseWhite-backed duck vs Northern pintailWhite-backed duck vs Mute swan
Common questions
Answered only where our data holds the answer.
How big is the white-backed duck?
An adult white-backed duck weighs 695 g – 720 g, according to values recorded on Wikidata.
Is the white-backed duck endangered?
The white-backed duck is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, meaning it is not currently at risk of extinction.
What kind of animal is the white-backed duck?
The white-backed duck (Thalassornis leuconotus) belongs to the family Anatidae in the order Anseriformes.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds · CC BY 4.0 · v7
Tobias, J.A. et al. (2022) AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds. Ecology Letters 25: 581–597. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13898. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). White-backed duck (Thalassornis leuconotus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/white-backed-duck
“White-backed duck (Thalassornis leuconotus).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/white-backed-duck.
@misc{white_backed_duck_2026,
title = {White-backed duck (Thalassornis leuconotus)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/white-backed-duck},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}