The termperching ducks is used colloquially to mean anyspecies ofducks distinguished by their readiness to perch high intrees.
Until the late 20th century,perching ducks meantCairinini, atribe of ducks in theduck,goose andswan familyAnatidae, grouped together on the basis of their readiness to perch high intrees. It has been subsequently shown that the grouping isparaphyletic and their apparent similarity results fromconvergent evolution, with the different members more closely related to various other ducks than to each other.[1]
Perching duck species include:
Species that were formerly in the Cairinini tribe, and do not have an identified current subfamily include:[1][2][3]